Seb Coe became a top-flight middle-distance runner and famously set three world records in less than six weeks in 1979 - for the 800m, 1 mile, 1500m.

Coe won gold in the 1500m and silver in the 800m in the 1980 Olympics - a performance he replicated in 1984.

The early eighties were a golden period for English middle-distance running with Coe and his great rival Steve Ovett dominating the world. 

Seb Coe was a Conservative  MP from 1992-7.

In the New Year Honours List on 31 December 2005, Lord Coe became a KBE after leading London's succesful bid to host  the 2012 Olympics.