Steve Cram

I think someone mistook David Sharpe for Curtis Robb.

Sharpe forced to accept defeat.

By Frank Johnson.

246 words

19 February 1998

The Northern Echo

21

English

(c) 1998 North of England Newspapers.

Former world junior 800m champion and one of the North-East's best-ever middle distance runners, David Sharpe, has been forced to hang up his spikes.

The 30-year-old Jarrow and Hebburn athlete, who was widely tipped to succeed training partner Steve Cram at the forefront of British athletics, has been forced to retire because of a series of shin and ankle problems.

The flame-haired Tynesider had hoped that a major ankle operation a year ago would finally end his injury misery and allow him to re-establish himself among Britain's top two-lap specialists. But he has been forced to admit defeat.

Sharpe said: "I'm sick of trying to get back to fitness and breaking down each time.

"It's not the same any more and I know I will never get back to the level I was at before."Sharpe, who was the first winner of the world junior 800m title in 1986, never fulfilled his huge potential.

He was European indoor 800m gold medallist and outdoor silver medallist in 1990.

In 1992 he ran a personal-best 1 mins 43.9 secs in Zurich before going on to win the World Cup 800m in Havana, but then came a succession of injuries which finally ended his track career.

He will now concentrate on his job as a sports development officer with South Tyneside Council.

I think i saw Sharpe in Newcastle town centre the other day selling the Big Issue.

Im 21 now, and the first memory I have of Track and Field was watching a 1 hour weekly piece of athletics on TV on Sunday afternoon during the sport show. As when you are young, you dont know shit about anyone, but you occasionally pick up on a winner, and he becomes your favourite athlete. For me that dude was Steve Cramm. I remember, he was probably the only name I remembered, and I remember arguing with my Dad whose favourite was Aouita, I remember telling my Dad that Aouita sucked, and Cram would kick his ass! Beautiful - thanks Steve Cramm.

Jon_In_Guernsey wrote:

I think someone mistook David Sharpe for Curtis Robb.

You're probably right. I was told Sharpe went to Med school, but with all the info you guys have posted, the info was off, obviously. I do remember Robb did go to Med school, and never reached his potential. Any info on him? I believe he was running 1:43, stopped because of school, then tried to come back on very limited training and couldn't quite get there again.

Curtis Rob went to the University of Sheffield to study medicine. The course is five years long and very intense. For example, the majority of your 3rd year is spent in hospitals during the day and then you still have to study for exams on top of that. Obviously, even once you have graduated the hours are still very long!

I heard that Rob turned down a promotion in 2001 in attempt to run in the commonwealths. I think he was still coached by Ernie Gallagher of Liverpool Harriers. However, he sometimes had to train as late as 12 at night because of his work commitments.

Ending up finishing 3rd in the trial (1.48.5) and made the team. Anyone know if he has now retired? Such a shame he never reached his potential!!

Hi father famously bet £1000 that Robb would win the 1500m at the Atlanta Olympics at odds of 250-1!

i think the bet was that he did not even have to win at the olympics, he just had to make the team in the 1500m. He did make the team for Atlanta but it was in the 800m. DOH!

Steve Cram was clean. He was also a great talent, but it wasn't the focus of his life. He was/is a very nice guy. I trained with him in Boulder, and he looked precisely like a goofy JV basketball player, until he began to move faster than 60/quarter when he just took off, as quick as Coughlin, and stronger than Scott. Great story, and the reason I know he's clean: All of the Nike guys came to Boulder to kiss Cram's ass, and we had a chance to test him on the treadmill at CU's Human Performance Lab. It was a lactate threshold test, and it entailed jumping on a moving treadmill at like 11 miles per hour to start. All of the Nike guys were there, and I'm trying to explain to Cram that this treadmill is really moving, its gonna be like jumping off a rolling pickup truck at 11 miles an hour. . ."no worries mate". We put the catheter in his hand to measure lactate, and we're ready to go. . .Cram jumps on the belt sideways, and takes two lunging steps before getting tossed off the back of the belt like George Freaking Jetson! He lands in a crash of test tubes and tables right at the feet of Nike dudes John Gregorio and Rich Castro, Gregorio almost swallowed his tongue. It was the single funniest thing I have ever seen, and Cram gets up laughing his ass off too! Cram never would have let us test him for blood with any drugs in his system, he was just a goofy talented guy who never took himself too seriously.

Bob,

I am interested in the CU PhD program for exercise physiology. Any input is welcome. Thank you.

That story was many years ago, Winter/Spring of '83. Most of the professors are gone now. The one still there I believe is Bill Byrnes, who is one of the top three jackasses I have ever met in my life, steer clear of this man. Don't even get me going on Boulder. The Henry Rono stories will make you pee in your pants doubled over in a fetal position you'll be laughing so hard.

Stories like what?

Unfortunately, Cram was dirty. It was said he had testes the size of peanuts, a symptom of long-term use.

You don't know shit. Cram was cleaner than 'Clean' Jack McClean, winner of last year's Mr Clean competition.

So bog off!

Where is your evidence slimey!!! You talk shit!! Cram was a huge talent (3.47 at 16) and trained hard!! Go and post your unhelpfull comments eleswhere.

"Clean" Jack McClean is also particularly known for his cleanliness ... holding, as he does, an advanced degree in Clean from Oxford University.

With honours.

Martin -- thanks for that Bazza, the best giggle of the day by far.

When I was a kid I saw Cram train and he was always phenomenal, not just in his ability but in terms of his mental approach, he did some awesome sessions, and the fact that he was pretty outstanding right the way through his teenage years and adolesence does make me convinced that he was clean. He was running times for a teenager which are rarely approached now 25 years on, so there was no reason why he would not go on to reach the very top. The only rumours I have heard is that round about 86 87 Cram started to become more involved with Chafford Hundred club, the Andy Norman organisation which involved Fatima Whitbread (obvious druggie) and several other top British athleets including his training partner David Sharpe. Norman is still involved in the sport as an agent but has a very dodgy history (which makes it surprising that one of the athletes he manages is Jonathon Edwards) he was implicated in the death of a leading athletics journalist who blew the gaff on his corrupt meet organisation, telling people which positions would be tested etc...

Anyway if you look at Cram in 85 and tehn again in 86/87 he does look different, a lot heavier, more muscular, this may just have been a change in direction. Like I say he is innocent in my opinion but I can see why people might suspect, Sharpe always had phenomenal talent but after years of running 1.45/46 of limited training he sudden;y won the world cup in 1.43, a lot of people said taht things changed when they started to tarin in the winter in Portugal, raed into taht what you like! In my opinion clean and if he was around today think he could have run 3.26/27

can you remember his LT-Pace?

waz wrote:

Anyway if you look at Cram in 85 and tehn again in 86/87 he does look different, a lot heavier, more muscular, this may just have been a change in direction. Like I say he is innocent in my opinion but I can see why people might suspect, Sharpe always had phenomenal talent but after years of running 1.45/46 of limited training he sudden;y won the world cup in 1.43, a lot of people said taht things changed when they started to tarin in the winter in Portugal, raed into taht what you like! In my opinion clean and if he was around today think he could have run 3.26/27

I was just starting to follow track at that time and that is so true what you say about Cram's appearance changing over those years... he got way more muscular compared to the way he looked in the 84 olympics (rail thin!). I wondered if that was just part of the natural maturation process. More likely he hit the weights hard, maybe thinking that was the answer for staying injury free.