Steve Cram
Born on 14th of October 1960
(full name and title: Steve Cram, MBE)
Born: October 14, 1960
Steve Cram is a former British middle distance runner from what has been described as the golden era of British middle distance running.
Cram first made the Olympic team in 1980 and reached the final of the 1500 metres. It was a famous race in which the established British stars, Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe fought it out for the gold medal. Cram finish well down in this race but gained valuable Olympic final experience.
In 1982 Ovett and Coe were struggling with injuries as Cram began to shine. Steve Cram won both the Commonwealth and European Championship gold medals that year. After suffering injury problems early in 1983, Cram came back strongly to beat Coe and take the World Championship gold. He followed this with silver at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles. Nicknamed 'The Jarrow Arrow', Cram then went on to take three world records in the space of 19 days in 1985 at 1500 metres, 1 mile and 2000 metres. In doing so he became the first person ever to run 1500m in less than 3:30.
In 1986 Cram continued to impress, he took gold in both the 800m and 1500m at the Commonwealth Games. He followed this up in the European Championships with bronze in the 800m, with Coe taking gold. Cram then beat Coe to take gold in the 1500m. Unfortunately, this medal was to mark the end of the golden era. Cram could not sustain this form into 1987 and beyond, despite occasional big race wins such as the 1988 Oslo Dream Mile.
Since retiring Steve has worked as a television sports presenter and also appeared on the TV series 'Run for Glory'. He works as a motivational speaker and is a sports columnist for the Guardian newspaper. In addition to this Steve works for the children's charity COCO. He was honoured with an MBE in 1986.
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