Coe during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in 2012
President of World Athletics
Incumbent
Assumed office 19 August 2015
Preceded by
Lamine Diack
Chairman of the British Olympic Association
In office 7 November 2012 – 24 November 2016
President
The Princess Royal
Preceded by
The Lord Moynihan
Succeeded by
Sir Hugh Robertson
Chairman of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
In office 24 August 2008 – 12 August 2012
IOC President
Jacques Rogge
Preceded by
Liu Qi
Succeeded by
Carlos Arthur Nuzman
Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
In office 7 October 2005 – 30 May 2013 Chair of the London bid: 18 May 2004 – 7 October 2005
Preceded by
Barbara Cassani
Succeeded by
Position abolished
Chief of Staff to the Leader of the Opposition
In office 19 June 1997 – 13 September 2001
Leader
William Hague
Preceded by
Jonathan Powell
Succeeded by
Jenny Ungless
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
as a life peer 16 May 2000 – 31 January 2022
Member of Parliament for Falmouth and Camborne
In office 9 April 1992 – 8 April 1997
Preceded by
David Mudd
Succeeded by
Candy Atherton
Personal details
Born
Sebastian Newbold Coe
(1956-09-29) 29 September 1956 (age 67) Hammersmith, London, England
Political party
Conservative
Spouses
Nicky McIrvine
(m. 1990; div. 2002)
Carole Annett
(m. 2011)
Children
4
Parent
Peter Coe (father)
Alma mater
Loughborough University
Sports career
Height
5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[1]
Weight
119 lb (54 kg)[1]
Sport
Athletics/Track, Mid-distance running
Event(s)
800 meters, 1500 metres, Mile
Team
Hallamshire Harriers, Sheffield Haringey AC, London
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing Great Britain
Olympic Games
1980 Moscow
1500 m
1984 Los Angeles
1500 m
1980 Moscow
800 m
1984 Los Angeles
800 m
European Athletics Championships
1986 Stuttgart
800 m
1982 Athens
800 m
1986 Stuttgart
1500 m
1978 Prague
800 m
Representing Europe
World Cup
1981 Rome
800 m
1989 Barcelona
1500 m
Coe's voice
from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 13 December 2009[2]
Problems playing this file? See media help.
Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron CoeCH KBE Hon FRIBA (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe,[3][4] 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.[5]
Following Coe's retirement from athletics, he was a Conservative member of parliament from 1992 to 1997 for Falmouth and Camborne in Cornwall, and became a Life Peer on 16 May 2000.
Coe headed the successful London 2012 Olympic bid for the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games. In 2007, he was elected a vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), and re-elected for another four-year term in 2011.[6] In August 2015, he was elected president of the IAAF.[7]
In 2012, Coe was appointed Pro-Chancellor of Loughborough University where he had been an undergraduate. Subsequently, in 2017, he was appointed as Chancellor. He is also a member of Loughborough University's governing body. He was one of 24 athletes inducted as inaugural members of the IAAF Hall of Fame.[8] In November 2012, he was appointed chairman of the British Olympic Association. Coe was presented with the Lifetime Achievement award at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in December 2012.[9]
At the 2024 Millrose Games, Coe was awarded The Armory's Presidents Award.[10]
^ abEvans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Seb Coe". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 21 April 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
^"Sebastian Coe". Desert Island Discs. 13 December 2009. BBC Radio 4. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
^"The Big Interview: Seb Coe". The Times. July 2008. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^Leith, Sam (6 August 2012). "Jonathan Miller and the state/private divide". Evening Standard.
^"Sebastian Coe". BBC Sport. 9 August 2000. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
^"IAAF Congress Day 1 – Daegu 2011: ELECTION RESULTS, 24 Aug – update!". International Association of Athletics Federations. 24 August 2011. Archived from the original on 14 September 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
^Gibson, Owen (19 August 2015). "Sebastian Coe elected as president of world governing body for athletics". The Guardian.
^"Hall of Fame Members". International Association of Athletics Federations. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
^"Lord Coe receives BBC Lifetime Achievement award". BBC Sport. 16 December 2012. Retrieved 31 December 2012.
Coe's voice from the BBC programme Desert Island Discs, 13 December 2009 Problems playing this file? See media help. Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe...
Newbold "Peter" Coe (27 September 1919 – 9 August 2008) was a British athletics coach, author, translator and coach of his son SebastianCoe. Coe was born Percy...
he raced against SebastianCoe for the first time in their senior careers, beginning a rivalry that was widely covered. He led Coe in the 800m and appeared...
the 2012 Olympics. Following a bid headed by former Olympic champion SebastianCoe and the then-London mayor Ken Livingstone, London was selected as the...
The tenth IOC President will be elected at this session. SebastianCoe Lord SebastianCoe who has served as the President of World Athletics since 2015...
for questioning concerning Kiptum's death. World Athletics President SebastianCoe remarked: "On behalf of all World Athletics, we send our deepest condolences...
of athletes becoming household names, like Carl Lewis, Sergey Bubka, SebastianCoe, Zola Budd and Florence Griffith Joyner. Many world records were broken...
winners with three: Steve Redgrave (2001), Bobby Charlton (2012) and SebastianCoe (2013). As of 2020[update], two individuals have been honoured posthumously...
times equal or superior to 2:14.51: Noah Ngeny also ran 2:12.66 (1999). SebastianCoe also ran 2:13.40 (1980). Abubaker Kaki Khamis also ran 2:13.93 (2008)...
the IAAF for events up to and including 10,000 m from 1981. Hence, SebastianCoe's record at 1:42.4 was rendered as 1:42.33 from that year. The first...
original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017. "IAAF President Coe attends Laureus Sport for Good Jam in Berlin". International Association...
medals in the event in 1980 (repeating her 1976 win) and, soon after, SebastianCoe became the first man to do so in 1980 and 1984. Faith Kipyegon is the...
IAAF Hall of Fame Jesse Owens Abebe Bikila Paavo Nurmi Sergey Bubka SebastianCoe Carl Lewis Emil Zátopek Al Oerter Adhemar da Silva Edwin Moses Fanny...
in the medley. Paul McCartney was to be the ceremony's closing act. SebastianCoe was instrumental in asking the Queen to take part, responding positively...
2008 Succeeded by Michael Phelps Awards and achievements Preceded by SebastianCoe Men's Track & Field Athlete of the Year 1982–1984 Succeeded by Saïd...
career. He became the first athlete ever to jump over 6.10 meters, in San Sebastián, Spain in 1991. Bubka increased the world record by 21 centimeters (8...
comedian David Walliams in 2006, and comedian Eddie Izzard in 2009. SebastianCoe picked up a Special Gold Award in 2005 for his work in helping Britain...