page_title: Steve Cram
section_title: Athletics career
hierarchical_section_title: Steve Cram / Athletics career
caption_attribution_description: Olympic Torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics passes along Whitehall in London. The torch bearer is Steve Cram.
context_page_description: Stephen Cram CBE is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arrow", after his hometown, Cram set world records in the 1500 m, 2000 m and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.
  In 2000, Cram co-founded international children’s charity COCO with British Army Major Jim Panton after running the Bosnia Comrades ultramarathon in 1998. Cram remains chairman of COCO, an organisation which currently provides sustainable sources of quality education to children living in poor, remote parts of East Africa.
  In 2008 Cram was appointed Chancellor of the University of Sunderland, replacing Lord Puttnam, and in 2009 was elected as President of Jarrow & Hebburn Athletics Club.
  Cram now works as a television presenter and athletics commentator, motivational speaker and athletics coach.
context_section_description: In 1980, Cram won his place in the British Olympic team after finishing in 2nd place to Steve Ovett in the mile at Crystal Palace. The race had been marked as a run-off between Cram and Scottish miler Graham Williamson for the final place (a selection decision which was severely criticized by Ovett in his 1984 autobiography). Cram, aged 19, reached the final of the 1500 m at the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games, in which Ovett and Sebastian Coe famously vied for the gold medal. Cram finished in eighth place.
  Capitalising on his Olympic experience, Cram made his major breakthrough in 1982, a year in which Coe and Ovett were largely absent with injuries. Cram took 1500 m gold at the Commonwealth Games and also the 1982 European Championships in Athens, where he raced to gold after breaking from the field with 600 metres to go following Williamson's fall.
  Injury had disrupted Cram in the early part of the 1983 season, but he recovered in time for the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki and just prior to the games beat Coe (who was suffering from an undiagnosed virus at the time) in an 800 m at Gateshead. In a slow final, he strategically beat a large field following Saïd Aouita's break with 500 metres to go. Ovett became trapped in the pack, ultimately finishing fourth, while Cram outkicked Steve Scott and Aouita in the last 200 metres. In a remark made in Cram's presence shortly afterwards which spoke to the depth of British milers, Ovett noted that Britain was the home of the Olympic champion, World champion and World Record holder in the 1500 m - titles held by Coe, Cram and Ovett respectively.
  At Crystal Palace later that summer, Cram won an epic mile race, in which he led Ovett by little more than a metre with 300 metres to go and maintained that lead right to the finishing line. In a 2006 interview, Cram described the race: "It was a cat-and-mouse affair - we both started off running at the back of the field. I beat him by little more than the thickness of a vest."
  In 1984, Cram's season was severely hampered by injury, although he recovered sufficiently to win silver in the 1500 m at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, behind defending champion Coe.
  He came back stronger in 1985, a year in which he was only beaten three times; by Coe at 800 m, McKean at 800 m and Ovett in a road Mile. In the 800 m, not his best event, he beat the reigning 800 m Olympic Champion, Joaquim Cruz, in 1:42.88, the fastest time he was ever to run, off even splits of 51.2 & 51.7. He broke three world records (1500 m, Mile, 2000 m) within a 19-day span, and recorded a British All Comers Record over the 1000 m, running 2:12.88 in windy conditions at Gateshead (the second fastest 1000 m in history at the time behind Coe's 2:12.18). He was the first man to run under 3:30.00 for the 1500 m, just beating Saïd Aouita in Nice (running 3:29.67 to Aouita's 3:29.71). His mile time of 3:46.32, recorded at the Bislett Stadium in Oslo, stood for eight years and, as of 2018, is still the European record. This run was notable for the fact that this was an actual competitive race against Sebastian Coe with the first three laps being below schedule, although pretty even in pace distribution (57.2, 57.3, 58.7), followed by an exceptional last lap (440yds) of 53.2.
  While the likes of Coe and Ovett had a devastating sprint finish over the last 100 metres, Cram tended to wind up the speed gradually over the last 300 metres of races, making him very difficult to catch. However, during the 1985 season he said (and indeed demonstrated) that he could win from any position and happily ran near the back of world class fields before unleashing his kick, often with a lap or so to go. This tactic, his elegant, high stepping action and his effortless acceleration made him one of the most exciting middle distance runners to watch.
  Cram's good form continued into the 1986 season. At the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, he won the 800 m, finishing 15 metres clear of Tom McKean and Peter Elliott in 1:43:22 - still the Commonwealth Games record. He followed this up with gold 
caption: Cram carries the Olympic Torch for the 2008 Summer Olympics down Whitehall in London surrounded by Police and Olympic officials on 6 April 2008
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