**MICHAEL PIRRIE, thumb Executive Advisor to the London 2012 Olympic Games Organising Committee, impotent shares some insights into the life and times of Seb Coe, one of the greatest Olympians, as he marks his 60th birthday while embarking on an unprecedented programme of reform to tackle doping and corruption in track and field as president of the IAAF
Seb Coe’s mobile phone will probably be in meltdown mode for most of today as news of his 60th birthday spreads around the wide world of sport, prompting sincere and heartfelt messages of congratulations and support for a life that has been spent mostly in the Olympic spotlight, but which has also transformed sport on and off the track, and changed many lives as well.
There will no doubt be many birthday messages from the Olympic Family, for whom Coe has become a favourite son. These are likely to include IOC President Thomas Bach, with whom Coe shares a life long friendship – Coe and Bach were among the first Olympians to represent the athletes at an IOC Session, both addressing the historic 1981 Baden Baden Session. Coe also shared dinner with the future IOC President on the evening before his election in Buenos Aires in 2013, along with IOC Vice President to be John Coates and former IOC Vice President Kevan Gosper.
But Coe will celebrate his birthday by dining quietly this evening with his own family, including one of his sons, Harry, who shares the same birthday as his father, who is fiercely loyal, protective and proud of all his children – a reflection of the strong bond and sense of family that Coe also shared with his own parents.
Coe shares his birthday year with celebrities such as the Hollywood actress Geena Davis, who was a reserve for the 1996 US Atlanta Olympic Games archery team; the respected NBC journalist Ann Curry, who helped cover many of the network’s Olympic broadcasts; Australian actor and Oscar winning director Mel Gibson, and the highly acclaimed actor Tom Hanks, whose much loved movie character Forest Gump develops a life-long passion for running and for whom running becomes a way of life, like Coe in ways.
Indeed, Coe was only 12 years old when he decided that he wanted to represent his country at the Olympic Games. He went on to achieve this childhood Olympic dreams in spectacular style, securing gold and sliver medals in the 1500 and 800 metres events, respectively, at both the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, winning in ways and in circumstances that helped to redefine what was possible in middle distance running.
The father of the modern Olympic Movement, Baron Pierre de Coubertin once famously said that the most important aspect of sport was in participation, not winning or losing, just as the most important element in life was not in conquering, but in struggling well.
Few Olympians however have struggled as well or as elegantly or successfully as Coe over the years; in good and in difficult times, his sense of style has often made some of the most demanding and daunting of athletic achievements seem almost effortless at times.
Coe’s easy going charm and good humour when confronting adversity have come to embody and define the essence of British ‘Grace Under Pressure’.
Coe’s 1500 metres Olympic victory in Moscow when he came back to win gold after earlier losing the 800 metres, for which he was the overwhelming favorite, demonstrated his trademark resilience, self-belief and refusal to surrender, and has become part of the Olympic folklore.
This was indeed a victory of uncommon bravery and courage that defied all odds and expectations at the time, but one which was also inspired by a very British sense of humour, and by Coe’s close friend Daley Thompson, one of the greatest Olympians of all time, who recalls visiting Coe in his room on the morning after Coe’s shock 800 metres loss and when asked by Coe what sort of a day it was outside, replied: “it’s a bit slivery…every cloud has a sliver lining.“
While Coe also set nine outdoor world records and three indoor world records, making him a bona-fide legend, Thompson, who shares a unique brotherly like sense of affection and bond with Coe, says almost deadpanned, that he feels sorry for Coe’s father Peter, who pioneered new training methods and thinking for elite athletic performance, and was also Coe’s coach because, Peter was an outstanding coach but “he would have been an even greater coach if he had better talent to work with. Its lamentable really,” says Thompson trying desperately to suppress the humour that lurks behind many of his recollections of Coe at 60.
Despite his easy-going manner, a deep and punishing work ethic underlied Coe’s success from the outset, training almost every day of the year.
One Christmas day after an early morning run, Coe, feeling uneasy that his arch rival, the British middle-distance running great, Steve Ovett was also out training hard, went for a second running session at lunchtime as well. When Coe relayed this to Ovett years later, his rival would look at Coe with incredulity and ask, “What, didn’t you do a third training session in evening as well like me…”
Despite his stunning athletic success, Coe’s success as a sports administrator has been just as extraordinary, and Coe’s role and impact on the growing importance and profile of sport in modern British and global society is almost unparalleled.
Coe’s influence in the planning for London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, regarded by many as the best Games ever staged, was pivotal and cannot be overestimated.
While Coe brought in talented people to help manage the logistical challenges of staging the worlds biggest event, he had an instinctive understanding of the most complex functions and operations and was involved in making and helping to guide and direct all key decisions from the Olympic Bid onwards.
Coe made his staff, the volunteers and the wider British and international community feel good about their involvement in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games with his inclusive style, wit and generosity of spirit, which, along with the high regard in which he is held in world sport, were all essential to keeping the London 2012 mission and diverse coalition of stakeholders on track, united, engaged and energized over 7 long years of planning.
Coe came as close as possible to being almost indispensable to the London 2012 Games, the single most complex piece of project planning in the world, which transformed London’s impoverished east End where key new Games facilities were built, along with British sport and the lives of a new generation of athletes who benefitted enormously from millions and millions of Lottery pounds and government investment, helping to pave the way for Team GB’s emergence as a new international sporting power at the recent Rio Games.
Coe’s birthday celebrations this evening will be very private but you can bet there will be some obscure genre of jazz playing in the background, discussion of Chelsea’s Premier League fortunes – Coe predicted before the start of the season that the Jose Mourinho and Manchester United pairing might not have been be the best fit.
The evening will also feature some highly memorable and entertaining speeches, also a Coe trademark, his eloquence in the speech making department playing an essential role in London’s Olympic Games Bid – I can recall accompanying Coe in Copenhagen when he was greeted by Carols Nuzman shortly after Rio was named as host for the 2016 Games, and Nuzman telling Coe that he focused as much on Coe’s London 2012 final bid presentation speech as he did on his own that day.
Coe also used his speaking skills to equally successful effect as the keynote speaker in London’s final presentation to win the 2017 IAAF World Athletic Championships, his gifted oratory over the years also earning him the nickname of “Shakespeare” from Thomas Bach – Coe refers to Bach as “The Professor” in recognition of Bach’s sharp, analytical mind.
Coe at 60 still retains his neat, angular, youthful appearance – United States Vice President Joe Biden, once said on meeting Coe that he would have been President of America if he had Coe’s healthy head of hair – but a genuine sense of humility and self-deprecating wit lies beneath the aura of success and Coe takes little for granted and gives much gratitude and thanks to those with whom he lives, works and associates.
While this has been a difficult year for the Olympic Movement and for Coe after the death of Mohammad Ali, one of Coe’s heroes, and the doping and bribery scandals that have rocked the sporting world, Coe’s work as IAAF president in reforming track and field, the biggest Olympic sport, provides a reassuring presence and sign for the future, and it is clear that there is still no finishing line in sight for Coe as he celebrates his 60th birthday.
**Michael Pirrie is an international communications and media strategist and commentator who led the London 2012 Olympic Games Bid Committee’s international relations strategy against New York, Paris, Moscow, and Madrid, and was executive adviser to Sebastian Coe as Chairman of the London 2012 Olympic Games Organizing Committee.
