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having wrung everything possible out of his body. Elliott came on to the scene during the most successful period in British middle-distance history. Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett had been duelling for titles and world records, and Steve Cram’s purposeful strides took him to World Championship glory at 1,500m.
I
HARD AS STEEL Elliott, grafting and relentless, gave himself every possible opportunity despite the massive disadvantage of working full-time as a joiner in a steel works. While others fell short, employing poor tactics or allowing the big occasion to get the better of them, Elliott refused to be shaken from his goal with only superior talents and the limits of exhaustion denying him. After the superstars Coe, Cram and
Ovett – feted and well-rewarded around the world – Elliott provided a bewitching throwback. The Yorkshireman would train two to three times a day, while still working an eight-hour shift which sometimes would start before 8am. Elliott had been a celebrated junior in
48 n RUNNING FREE
AN UNSUNG HERO
f heart and guts were the only measure of winning a gold medal, Peter Elliott would have a bag full. As it was he had to settle for silver on two occasions at global level,
the UK, running in the Young Athletes League for his local club, Rotherham Harriers. He held the UK under-17 record for 800m, with a time of 1:50.7, for nearly 10 years. He excelled as a schoolboy athlete, winning four English Schools titles, twice at 800m and twice over the country. Elliott announced himself to the world with his courageous fourth, at the age of 20, in the inaugural World 800m final at Helsinki’s Olympic Stadium in 1983.
THE HIGHS AND LOWS Typical of his career, a massive high was followed by utter disappointment – missing out on selection for the 1,500m at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles despite beating Coe in the AAA Championships (he would have got into any other team in the world at the time but had the misfortune to compete against Coe, Cram and Ovett). He reached the semi-finals of the 800m but was forced to withdraw due to injury. He would not get the chance to ‘double up’ over the two great Olympic middle- distance races after all. Elliott returned from a year lost to
injury to follow Cram and Tom McKean home in the 1986 Commonwealth 800m final in Edinburgh, but his star was in the ascendant going into 1987 after impressive winter training in New Zealand.
Peter Elliott, a working man who trained three times a day, was overshadowed by the likes of Ovett, Coe and Cram, but his sporting achievements cannot be under- estimated. Sports writer Adrian Hill reports on the fourth man of the 80s heydays!
A GOOD TRACK RECORD The 1987 World Championships in Rome was one of the high points of his career, silver in the 800m in 1:43.41 behind superb Kenyan Billy Konchellah, and he went on to set personal bests at both 1,500m and 2,000m. The 1988 Olympics in Seoul were clouded by a groin injury but Elliott was never one to allow a minor inconvenience like that get in his way. He manfully hauled his aching body to fourth in the 800m and then, in arguably his bravest race, went through the pain barrier in the 1,500m final to claim his second global silver. He came home just 0.19 seconds behind yet another Kenyan, Peter Rono, and fought off the challenge of East German bronze medallist Jens-Peter Herold. At last, in 1990, Elliott was rewarded
for years of toil with the major gold medal he craved. The spectre of the mighty Kenyans was there once again (unlike other events at the Commonwealths the men’s middle- distance finals are world-class affairs) but Elliott surged to the 1,500m title in Auckland in 3:33.39 leaving Wilfred Kirochi trailing in his wake. By now Elliott was recognised as one
of Britain’s elite athletes. The demands on his time and increased sponsorship allowed him to leave his job with British
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