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| Nationality | British (English) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 January 1958 Wednesbury, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 400m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | WBAC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Garry Peter Cook (born 10 January 1958) is a former British track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the 800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics. [1]
Cook represented England in the 800 metres event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada. [2] Cook finished third behind Steve Scott and John Walker in the 800 metres event at the 1979 AAA Championships [3] but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete was considered the British 800 metres champion [4]
The same happened at the 1981 AAA Championships over 400 metres when Cook was third behind Americans Tony Darden and Walter McCoy. [4] The following year he represented England [5] and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia; he also competed in the 800 metres event. [6] [7]
Cook was a world record holder in the rarely run 4×800 m relay as a part of a quartet that also contained Peter Elliott, Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe. They ran a time of 7 minutes 3.89 seconds on 30 August 1982 at Crystal Palace.
He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, in the 4 x 400 metre relay, where he won the silver medal with his teammates Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett and Philip Brown. [8]
After a successful athletics career, Cook qualified and practiced as a teacher specialising in Physical Education and Geography at Bluecoat school Walsall. He is married to former fellow Olympian Kathy Cook; they have three children, Sarah (1988), Matthew (1989) and George (1992) and reside in Walsall, England.
