Steve Cram

Nice biog of Cram from

www.britishathletics.info

Born: 14 Oct 60 (Gateshead)

Ht/Wt: 1.86m / 69kg

Club: Jarrow & Hebburn AC

Coach: Jimmy Hedley

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Cram achieved a unique treble at 1500m with Commonwealth, European and World titles 1982-3, before returning from injury to take the 1984 Olympic silver medal behind Sebastian Coe. He had run on the UK team that set a world record at 4 x 800m relay in 1982, but first entered the world record lists as an individual in 1985, when he ran three records in 19 days: at 1500m 3:29.67, 1 mile 3:46.32 and 2000m 4:51.39, times which remained his best. The first came in a wonderful race at Nice on 16 July, when he beat Saïd Aouita as both men became the first to better 3:30 for 1500m. Eleven days later he took the mile record at the Bislett Games in Oslo, and the following week he added the 2000m in Budapest.

In 1986 Cram became the third man (after Herb Elliott and Peter Snell) to win the Commonwealth 800m/1500m double when he looked unbeatable, the supreme middle-distance runner, and then won gold for 1500m and bronze for 800m behind his teammates Coe and Tom McKean at the Europeans. At his third Europeans he was 5th at 1500m in 1990, and in all he won seven national senior titles.

Cram set a world age-17 mile best with 3:57.43 in 1978 and in that year made his championships debut at the Commonwealth Games. The next year he won the European Junior title at 3000m and in 1980 was 8th in the Olympic 1500m. He went on to fulfill his brilliant junior promise to rank as the world?s number one for 1500m in 1982-3, in 1985-6 and in 1988. He went undefeated at 1000m or further on the track from falling at the 1984 IAC meeting to dropping out in a mile race in Perth on 24 Jan 1987. Although he had good wins in Oslo (twice) and Zurich in 1987 and at Oslo and Brussels in 1988 he was much troubled by calf injuries, which came to a head in 1989, when his season was terminated in July. With a fine run he justified his controversial selection for the 1990 Europeans after a season ruined by injury, but although he continued for several years was not able to regain his superb best form, suffering increasingly suffered from calf and other leg injuries. Voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1983, he was awarded the MBE in 1986.

He has become a most successful television commentator, first with Eurosport, and then with Channel 4, before joining the BBC. He stays very fit as shown by his 2:35:43 London marathon run in 1999 (while broadcasting!).  

Personal Bests:  

               

800 1:42.88    21 Aug 1985   1 Zurich, SUI

400 49.1    15 Aug 1982   2 Durham

600 1:16.7   +e 17 Aug 1988   4m Zurich, SUI

600 1:16.79   + 23 Aug 1983   1m Oslo, NOR

1k 2:12.88    9 Aug 1985   1 Gateshead

1200 3:06.0   + 14 May 1977   m Gateshead

1500 3:29.67    16 Jul 1985   1 Nice, FRA

1M 3:46.32    27 Jul 1985   1 Oslo, NOR

2k 4:51.39    4 Aug 1985   1 Budapest, HUN

3k 7:47.09    11 Jun 1989   2 Portsmouth

3k 7:43.1   + 29 Aug 1983     London (CP)

2M 8:14.93    29 Aug 1983   1 London (CP)

5k 13:28.58    3 Jun 1989   1 Jarrow

10kR 28:46    8 Nov 1992   1 Heaton

10kR 28:23   un 20 Mar 1982   1 South Shields

HMar 1:05:33    20 Sep 1992   96 Newcastle

Mar 2:38:15    26 Apr 1998   174 London 

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Internationals:  

Olympic Games:

1500 4(1988), 2(1984), 8(1980)

800 6q3(1988)

World Championships:

1500 13s2(1993), 7s2(1991), 8(1987), 1(1983)

European Championships:

1500 5(1990), 1(1986), 1(1982)

800 3(1986)

Commonwealth Games:

1500 1(1986), 1(1982), 9h2(1978)

800 1(1986), 2h3(1986)

Crap. I had the pleasure of having trained with both Dave and Steve for two track seasons (1986/7) and I reckon they were both completely clean. Didn’t get to know Steve very well but Dave was crazy (funny) and hugely talented . We had some very challenging sessions and that’s what got these boys to the top. I do remember Dave having a more developed upper body after one particular winter training but I put it down to some weight training although I was never invited to be part of this. Drugs? I very much doubt it.

This is a great thread, apart from the drug allegations obviously, but even there they seem to have coaxed out some interesting anecdotes from people who knew or trained with Cram.

A few people in this old thread were saying that 85 was the one year he was injury free. That's not true. I don't think he had a single injury free year in his prime. In 85 he was having his usual problems early season but posted a sublime 3:31 where he looked like he could easily have smashed Ovett's WR if he hadn't had to run the last 600m solo (and appeared not to realize what a fast time he was in reach of). That was finally uploaded to YouTube 14 years after this thread.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFTjR3OOwGc

After that race, he got injured again, lost to a raw Tom McKean over 800m, and then I think dropped out 1/2 way through his next race. That's why when Nice came round, Aouita didn't do his usual dodging act, believing (like David Colmean) that the biggest 'threat' was from Cruz, who was being absurdly billed as making an attempt on the 1500m world record.

I never knew that Aouita got the athlete of the year award in 85 above Crammy. That's a disgrace. Another reason to dislike Aouita.

Cram wasn't at his peak in the race in Nice. He was at his best (and even then likely not at his absolute potential best if he had a truly injury free year) in that spell where he broke the mile record and then beat Cruz over 800m. He was in 3:29 form in Nice, but he was in 3:27/3:28 form when he broke the Mile record and beat Cruz.

Man was he smooth when he was in form. Just watching that video, the contrast between him and Steve Scott, one of the all-time greats, Cram makes it look so (relatively) effortless. His stride is almost bounding and there’s almost no jerky motion in his stride or arm carriage. As good as everyone from that era was, he’s the only one I’d give a chance in a race against El Guerrouj, Morcelli, Lagat, Ngeny, etc if he’d peaked in the 90s instead of the 80s. That one streak in summer 85, where he ran a 3:29 1500, 3:46 mile, and 2:12 1000m was one of the greatest runs of all time.