Olympics Evoke Memories of 40th Anniversary Meeting with Sebastian Coe
Interviewing Gold-Medal Runner For School Paper Still a Huge Highlight
Sebastian Coe was one of the biggest names in sports in the first half of the 1980s. The British middle-distance running star even made a few Sports Illustrated covers back when that was a really big deal.
The men’s 1,500 meters started Friday in Paris and conclude with the finals Monday. It also brings back memories of how big a deal it was when Coe spent some time in Elmhurst with legendary York cross country and track coach Joe Newton to do some training for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
And it was also a huge deal for a high school senior to get the chance, because of Newton, to interview the legendary Coe. He is the only man to win two Gold medals in the 1,500 in 1980 and 1984.
When I first started covering track and field in the early 1990s for the Daily Herald coaches were understandably a bit wary of getting someone dropped on their beat who didn’t really care or know much about the sport. Telling them I went to York and had gone to a couple of state cross country meets in Peoria during a stretch where they won five consecutive titles helped a bit. And covering track was one of my favorites because of the difference from the typical team sports like football, basketball and baseball and the time available to talk with coaches and athletes.
Now, going to a couple of state cross country meets was a lot different from running in them and that was also made perfectly clear to the coaches I worked with. Newton, who won a staggering 28 cross country titles in his incredible York career, had a thing at the start of every school year where he pulled a bunch of freshmen from the gym classes to give cross country a try.
There were a lot of success stories of guys who went that route to become key contributors to his Long Green Line. Running wasn’t my thing then and after two weeks I had enough, but I kept a good relationship with Newton through writing stories for the local and school paper and having him as a gym teacher.
So, one day Newton came up and asked if I would be interested in interviewing Sebastian Coe for a story for the school paper. Sebastian Coe?!?! One of the greatest athletes in the world at the time? Are you kidding? There was no need to ask twice.
A few days later the nervous kid got the chance to talk to the Olympic legend in one of the coaches offices just outside the gym. One of the goofier recollections is one of my best friends, Mike Grina, who ran track for Newton, going to get something to drink for Coe and raving about it to friends at school for weeks.
The other big memory was the graciousness of Coe as he answered questions he undoubtedly had been asked many times before. He didn’t act like he was big-time and this was beneath him or that he was just doing it as a favor to a good friend (which he obviously was).
And it’s pretty cool that Coe said his visit to Elmhurst and stay with the Newton family played a significant role in repeat Olympic Gold.
“Joe Newton was, is and will always be a great inspiration for me,” Coe said for The Long Green Line documentary in 2008. “I came to train in Chicago with him before the ‘84 Games. I went there six weeks before when the previous year had been very difficult in health terms for me. Joe was an inseparable part of my 1984 Olympic win in Los Angeles.”
Forty years later, it’s still memorable to have been a tiny footnote to Sebastian Coe’s Olympic glory.
What a great experience!