Steve Ovett  Stephen Michael James Ovett (; born 9 October 1955) 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, and set several world records for 1500 metres and the mile run and a world best at two miles. Born in Brighton, Sussex, and educated at Varndean Grammar School (now Varndean College), Ovett was a talented teenage athlete. As a youngster, he showed great promise as a footballer, but gave it up for athletics, because he did not want to play a sport where he would have to rely on teammates. As a youngster he won the under-15 (Junior boys) English Schools' Athletics Championships title at 400 metres in 1970 and the under-17 (Intermediate boys) 800 metres title in 1972. Ovett's first major athletics title came in 1973, when he won the 800 metres at the 1973 European Athletics Junior Championships. The following year, still only aged 18, he won the silver medal at 800 metres in the 1974 European Athletics Championships, setting a new European Junior 800m record of 1:45.77 in the process. Ovett won AAA titles in the 800m from 1974 to 1976; he would later add to these AAA titles by winning the 1500m in 1979 and the mile in 1980. Ovett gained some Olympic experience in 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, when he ran in the final of the 800m and was placed fifth, behind winner Alberto Juantorena of Cuba. Ovett finished fifth because he ran the first lap too inconsistently. He failed to reach the 1500 m final, having been obstructed in the semi-final when Canadian athlete Dave Hill fell and Ovett had to hurdle over him. As this happened 170m from the finish, Ovett had little time to recover, and was out-sprinted to the line by fellow countryman, Dave Moorcroft, with Ovett finishing only sixth. Ovett gained prominence in 1977 when he began to regularly defeat the 1500 metres Olympic champion John Walker. In the early season Debenhams Mile, Ovett defeated Walker and set a British record of 3:54.7. Then in the European Cup 1500m, Ovett produced an outstanding last lap of 52.4 seconds to win a fiercely competitive race just ahead of his friend and rival Thomas Wessinghage. At the inaugural IAAF World Cup in Athletics, he commenced a "kick" with 200m to go, running the final turn in 11.8 s and the last 200m in 25.1 s.