Heroes All - Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett

The middle-distance rivalry that was reminiscent of Chariots Of Fire.

It's been a while since men's middle distance running has been a big deal in Great Britain. Yes, we've had some talented athletes (Curtis Robb, who quit the track for a career in medicine) and some tremendous triers (Olympic silver medalist Peter Elliot and European indoor champ John Mayock). But before the recent emergence of Josh Kerr and Jake Wightman, the 800m and 1500m had been a far from happy hunting ground since Steve Cram hung up his spikes.

This was not always the case.

From the late '70s until the mid-'80s, Great Britain was the first nation of middle-distance running. This dominance was partially due to the aforementioned Cram who became the inaugural World Champion in 1983. However, if you ask most members of the public who the kings of the track were during this period, they won't hesitate to say Stephen Michael James Ovett and Sebastian Newbold Coe.

Steve Ovett and Sebastian Coe - like Oxford and Cambridge and Manchesters City and United, it wasn't the done thing to support the both of them. Since Ovett was the son of market traders, he was treated as the people's champ, the Alf Tupper-style 'Tough Of The Track' who ran on his guts. Coe, on the other hand, was seen as a middle-class college boy. That he was in truth a bona fide outsider (his mother was Indian while his father and coach Peter was the son of Jewish war-time immigrants) was conveniently ignored since it didn't fit the story the press wanted to tell. Coe and Ovett represented different sides of the British experience and when they ran, the classes watched to see who had the upper hand.

Alas, the first time they competed head-to-head at the European Championships in 1978, it was East Germany who had the upper hand, the rival Brits being so obsessed with beating one another that they failed to notice Olaf Beyer. Two years later at the Moscow Olympics, it was clear that both the 800m and the 1500m would be straight shoot-outs between Coe and Ovett. Although the 800m was considered the future MP's event, it was his arch rival who won the day, the victory leading to some of the wildest celebrations ever seen in Red Square. A week later, however, the tables were turned as Coe - whose father said he'd "ran like a c*!t" in the 800m - produced an astonishing performance over 1500m, leaving Ovett reeling in his wake. The greatest show on earth had come and gone, and the middle-distance rivals departed with one gold apiece.

With the World Championships yet to become a part of the athletics calendar, the years between Olympics could be rather quiet affairs. That was unless you had men like Coe and Ovett tearing up the track. In 1981, Coe broke both the indoor and outdoor records for the 800m, the latter mark remaining unbeaten for a 19 years. Then, during a remarkable 10-day period that summer, the pair broke the mile record on three separate occasions. It might sound like overstatement but the excitement created by these feats was on a par with that whipped up by a certain Mr Bolt.

As they were at the peak in 1981, so Coe and Ovett fought injury and illness throughout '82 and '83. Come the 1984 LA Olympics, Ovett was experiencing such extreme breathing difficulties that it was all he could do to finish the 800m final. Coe, meanwhile, had to be satisfied with silver again as he trailed in behind Brazilian Joaquin Cruz. If defeat left him deflated, he didn't show it when he took to the track for the 1500m final and again blew the opposition away. For the first - and to date, only - time, a man had defended the 1500m title, and that man was Sebastian Coe.

With all the records they'd broken and all the medals they'd won, you'd could have understood if Coe and Ovett had called it a day at this juncture. But while their best days might have been behind them, the pair pressed on, Coe winning his only 800m international title at the 1986 European Championships and Ovett triumphing over 5000m at the Edinburgh Commonwealth Games the same year.

The Brighton-born Ovett then left for Australia where he still lives today. Coe, meanwhile, became the MP for Falmouth and Camborn for the Conservative Party in 1992, lost his seat in 1997, became a life peer in 2000 and then dedicated himself to bringing the Olympic Games to London. We're sure you've heard how that turned out.

As for whether the rivalry still exists, it's important to understand that, whatever the media sort to stoke up, Coe and Ovett, though hardly close friends, were always cordial towards one another. Since both athletes have sons (Ovett's boy Freddy is already a handy runner), you can be sure that the press will speculate whether the battle will be rejoined.

Those who love track and field, however, will prefer to remember the sight of these two generational athletes at the head of the field, galloping towards the tape. Because whatever else they might have done in their lives, to watch Steve Ovett and Seb Coe run was pure joy.