Nineteen days that shook world of athletics

Jul 16 2010 by Stuart Rayner, The Journal

It was one of the greatest 19 days in North East sport as Steve Cram broke world records at three different distances. Cause for celebration, you might think, but 25 years on Cram tells Stuart Rayner of his mixed feelings

TODAY marks a very special 25th anniversary for world athletics and North East sport in particular, not that Steve Cram is in a particularly celebratory mood.

It is not that Jarrow’s famous middle-distance runner has turned into a grumpy old man embittered by the sport which made him famous, far from it in fact. It is because so many of his achievements of a remarkable July 1985 remain inked in athletics’ record books that the anniversary is tinged with disappointment.

1985 was Cram’s year, beaten only three times over any distance. It reached a peak in 19 incredible days when “the Jarrow Arrow” set new world records over 1,500m, the mile and 2,000m. It was, and quite possibly always will be, the golden era of British middle-distance running as Cram, Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett battled for world supremacy in some thrilling contests. That year, Cram’s claim was indisputable.

What slightly saddens Cram, now a respected television commentator, is that a quarter of a century on from that first historic victory he remains, in many respects, the best. His world records are footnotes in history but he remains Europe’s fastest miler and 2,000m runner – and Britain’s quickest over 1500m.

“It’s something you get reminded of over the years,” he says of his 19-day record spree. “I still have to ask myself if it’s the television pictures I recall or my own memories.

“While it’s nice to be having this anniversary it’s a shock to think it’s 25 years ago, and at times quite depressing!

“Now I’m a commentator I travel all around the world on the circuit. I don’t think you realise at the time what an achievement it was. If you’d have told me then I would still be the European and British record holder I would have laughed because it seemed at the time like people would break it sooner or later.

“As an athlete you’re always trying to improve. Coe and Ovett were doing their thing when I was coming through and you think there will be other people behind you who will break your records. Your mindset was always ‘I can keep my gold medals for the rest of my life, but I’m just a temporary holder of the records’.