Peter Elliott (athlete)

Last updated

Peter Elliott
Personal information
Born (1962-10-09) 9 October 1962 (age 60)
Rawmarsh, Rotherham, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Medal record
Men's Athletics
Representing Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1988 Seoul 1500 m
World Championships
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 1987 Rome 800 m
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 1990 Auckland 1500 m
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 1986 Edinburgh 800 m

Peter Elliott (born 9 October 1962 in Rotherham, Yorkshire) is a former middle-distance runner from the United Kingdom. During his career, he won the gold medal in the 1500 metres at the 1990 Commonwealth Games, the silver medal in the 1500 metres at the 1988 Olympic Games, and the silver medal in the 800 metres at the 1987 World Championships.

Contents

Biography

Elliott was brought up in Rawmarsh, near Rotherham, in the then West Riding of Yorkshire. He attended Rawmarsh Comprehensive School and later worked as a joiner at British Steel Corporation. He managed to establish himself as a world class athlete while working full-time. He began his athletic career by running in the Young Athletes League for his local club, Rotherham Harriers, and his 800m time of 1 minute 53.3 seconds has been the under-17 record since 1979.[ citation needed ] He also held the UK under-17 record with a time of 1 minute 50.7 seconds, which stood for nearly 10 years.[ citation needed ] He excelled as a schoolboy athlete, winning four English Schools titles, twice at 800 metres and twice over the country.[ citation needed ]

In August 1982, he set a 4 × 800 metres relay World Record of 7 minutes 3.89 seconds with fellow British athletes Sebastian Coe, Steve Cram and Garry Cook.[ citation needed ] At the 1983 World Championships held in Helsinki, he finished 4th in the 800m final.[ citation needed ]

Elliott was not selected for the 1500m at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, losing out to the eventual gold and silver medallists, Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram, and the then world record holder, Steve Ovett. At the time, it was a very controversial decision.[ citation needed ] After Ovett and Cram had secured their places, the third place was either Coe's or Elliott's. Although Elliott defeated Coe at the AAA's Championships, the selectors opted for Coe.[ citation needed ] Elliott was selected for the 800m and qualified for the semi-finals, but had to withdraw due to an injury.[ citation needed ]

Elliott won a bronze medal in the 800m at the 1986 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh behind Steve Cram and Tom McKean.[ citation needed ] He then won a silver medal in the event at the 1987 World Championships in Rome.[ citation needed ] The following year, he won the silver medal in the 1500m at the Olympic Games in Seoul.[ citation needed ] He also finished fourth in the Olympic 800m final.[ citation needed ] In January 1990, he became the Commonwealth champion over 1500m in Auckland.[ citation needed ] Later in the year, he ran 1:42.97 over 800m in Seville (ranking him No. 1 in the world for 1990, and making him the third fastest Briton of all time over the distance).[ citation needed ] This made him the favourite to win both middle distance gold medals at the 1990 European Championships in Split.[ citation needed ] However, due to injury problems he only entered for the 1500m and was tripped in the semi-final. After an appeal by the British team he was reinstated (against his own wishes and those of some other athletes[ citation needed ]), and went on to finish fourth in the final.[ citation needed ] A year later, he defeated the European champion Jens-Peter Herold in the 1500m race at the European Cup in Frankfurt. He also won the Fifth Avenue Mile in 1987, 1989 and 1990, the latter in 3:47.83 min.[ citation needed ]

He set a British indoor mile record of 3:52.02 in 1990, which stood until bettered by Josh Kerr in 2022.

After retiring from competition running in 1992, Elliott became a coach and race organiser. He joined Newcastle-based sports marketing agency Nova International, where he was Director of Running. In 2004 he became the Athlete Services Manager for Yorkshire at the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.[ citation needed ]

Personal bests

DistanceMarkDate
400 m48.21984
600 m1:16.61983
800 m1:42.971990
1000 m2:16.301990
1500 m3:32.691990
Mile3:49.201988
2000 m4:52.821987
3000 m8:07.511991

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Cram</span> British retired track and field athlete

Stephen Cram, 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 home town, Cram set world records in the 1,500 m, 2,000 m, and the mile during a 19-day period in the summer of 1985. He was the first man to run 1,500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds. He won the 1,500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sebastian Coe</span> British athlete and politician

Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medals at the Olympic Games in 1980 and 1984. He set nine outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events – including, in 1979, setting three world records in the space of 41 days – and the world record he set in the 800 metres in 1981 remained unbroken until 1997. Coe's rivalries with fellow Britons Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated middle-distance racing for much of the 1980s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Ovett</span> British former middle distance runner

Stephen Michael James Ovett, is a retired British track athlete. A middle-distance runner, he was the gold medalist in the 800 metres at the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow. Ovett set five world records for 1500 metres and the mile run, and a world record at two miles. He won 45 consecutive 1500 and mile races from 1977 to 1980.

The women's 800 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 20 to 23.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Women's 1500 metres</span>

The women's 1500 metres at the 2004 Summer Olympics as part of the athletics program were held at the Athens Olympic Stadium from August 24 to 28.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olaf Beyer</span> German middle distance runner

Olaf Beyer is a former East German 800 metres runner.

Thomas McKean is a British former middle-distance runner. He was a world and European indoor 800 metres champion. Outdoors, McKean medalled twice each at European and Commonwealth level.

Jack Richard Buckner is a former British athlete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Becky Lyne</span> English middle-distance runner

Becky Lyne is a former international middle-distance runner from Great Britain, who won a bronze medal in the 800 metres at the 2006 European Athletics Championships.

Garry Peter Cook is a former British track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the 800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's 1500 metres</span>

The men's 1500 metres was an event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California. The final was held on August 11, 1984. Fifty-nine athletes from 40 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, the first man to successfully defend an Olympic 1500 metres title. Steve Cram's silver made it the first time a nation had gone 1–2 in the event since Great Britain had done it in 1920. José Manuel Abascal's bronze was Spain's first medal in the event.

The men's 800 metres event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles took place between 3 and 6 August. Sixty-nine athletes from 55 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Joaquim Cruz of Brazil, the nation's first medal in the men's 800 metres. Sebastian Coe of Great Britain repeated his silver-medal performance from 1980, the eighth man to win two medals in the event.

The men's 800 metres was an event at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, Soviet Union. There were a total number of 41 participating athletes from 28 nations, with six qualifying heats, three semifinals, and the final held on Saturday July 26, 1980. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Steve Ovett of Great Britain, the nation's first gold medal in the men's 800 metres since winning four in a row from 1920 to 1932. It was Great Britain's sixth overall title in the event.

Donald J. Paige is an American retired middle-distance runner.

These are the official results of the Men's 800 metres event at the 1978 European Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. The final was held on 31 August 1978.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Grice</span> British middle-distance runner

Charles Da'Vall Grice, informally known as Charlie Grice, is a British middle-distance athlete.

Craig Nicholas Winrow is a male retired English middle-distance runner competing primarily in the 800 metres.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Wightman</span> British middle-distance runner (born 1994)

Jake Wightman is a British middle-distance runner who primarily competes in the 1500 metres. He won the gold medal at the 2022 World Championships, the first global gold in a middle distance event for a British male since Seb Coe's 1500 m title at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. At the European Athletics Championships, Wightman earned a bronze in 2018 and a silver for the 800 metres in 2022. He won bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Ann Margaret Griffiths is a retired English athlete who competed in middle-distance events. In the 800 meters, she won a silver medal at the 1990 Commonwealth Games and finished seventh in the final at the 1991 World Championships, before going on to represent Great Britain in the 1500 metres at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona.

A kick in a running race is the ability of some athletes to sprint at the end of an endurance-oriented race. For those who possess the ability to kick, it is a strategic weapon. For those with the liability not to possess a kick, they must seek different strategies to anticipate and diminish their opponent's kicking power, usually by a long extended surge to break away or exhaust their opponent well ahead of the finish of the race. Similar to a sprinter in cycling, a kicker has a finite distance they know they are able to sprint, making their strategy to be in the ideal position at that distance to be able to utilize that speed. Sprinting too early could lead an athlete to tie up, a form of muscle cramp that debilitates a racer from continuing to kick. Thus team tactics might also intentionally or not, box a kicker, meaning to position other competitors to their outside, to disrupt their positioning and timing. Of course, as the finish is nearing and all athletes are straining, this becomes more difficult to accomplish deliberately.

References