Steve Ovett biography

 Steve Ovett biography

 Steve Ovett, byname of Stephen Michael James Ovett, (born October 9, 1955, Brighton, Sussex, England), British athlete, who, alongside along with his nice rival, Sebastian Coe, dominated middle-distance working within the early Nineteen Eighties. The winner of gold and bronze medals on the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, Ovett set six world data.

Ovett first attracted worldwide discover when he received the 800-metre race on the 1973 European junior championships in Duisburg, West Germany. He completed fifth within the 800 metres on the 1976 Olympics in Montreal. He first competed in opposition to Coe in Prague in 1978, beating him however ending second within the 800-metre race; in that very same 12 months he set a world report of 8 min 13.51 sec within the two-mile run. His first-place victory over Coe within the 800-metre run on the 1980 Olympics in Moscow got here as a shock; equally shocking, since Ovett had been undefeated within the 1,500-metre race in three years, was his third-place end in that occasion on the identical Olympics.

The British press inspired the rivalry between the gregarious Ovett, who feuded with the press, and the extra reserved Coe, though of their finest years the 2 seldom raced in opposition to one another. The one-mile world report (3 min 48.8 sec) that Ovett had set in 1980 was bested by Coe on August 19, 1981; on August 26 Ovett set one other world report by working the mile in 3 min 48.4 sec, solely to have Coe defeat that report (by 1.07 sec) two days later. In 1983, every week after his world report within the 1,500 metres had been damaged, Ovett mustered a robust end to set a brand new world report of three min 30.77 sec. Illness pressured him to drop out of the ultimate 1,500-metre run on the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Ovett was made a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1982 and an Officer of the British Empire (OBE) in 2000. His autobiography, Ovett (cowritten with John Rodda), was revealed in 1984.