"there has only ever been one perfect man, the Lord Jesus, and we killed him. I only missed a putt."
Running my life
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Seb Coe, London, Hodder and Stoughton, 2012. ISBN 978-1-444-73252 8
A book by Seb Coe is a must for anyone interested in the 2012 Olympics. “Running my life” does not disappoint, giving unique insights into the games from the person who knows the whole story. The most surprising thing for me was that we are 300 pages into the book before we get there!
That is a reminder of what a busy life (or lives) that Seb Coe had led. The book covers his early life as he develops his talent. Then there is his account of his elite career including the triumphant 1980 and 1984 Olympics and the rivalry with Steve Ovett. Two quotes on Moscow give a great insight into the mind of the elite athlete. On coming second in the 800 metres, he wrote: “I hadn’t given up ten or twelve years of my life to come second in an Olympic final and that’s precisely what I had done”
Winning the Olympics was summed up: “In a strange way, it was just like I’d felt after getting my degree. I had done it and I would never have to do it again”.
Retirement brings his political career as a conservative MP and after losing his seat his work as William Hague’s chief of staff. While he did not know it at the time, what a preparation that was for leading the 2012 bid! Of that period he wrote, “One thing I learnt from my time in politics is choose your fights. Pick those you know are small enough to win but big enough to matter”.
The account of the successful London 2012 bid is undoubtedly the most interesting part of the book, telling the inside story which only he knows, culminating in the decision to award the games to London. Then we read of the process of delivering the games and his role in that too. One point of detail that sticks in my mind is Coe’s argument for using Greenwich for equestrian events to give local children chance to see them.
His involvement in the unsuccessful 2018 World Cup bid is told in a chapter called “The smell of death”, which was his first impression of the bid! His account of Lord Triesman’s reluctant resignation and of a frank discussion with the chairman of the Premier League are fully reported, perhaps to the embarrassment of the two chairmen.
The final chapter is on the games themselves – Olympics and Paralympics as experienced by man in charge. There is poignant photo of him on the track in the main stadium at the end, captioned “All over”.
Seb Coe is a driven man and a man who has been successful in several spheres. He is a man to whom the nation should be extremely grateful.