36 Facts About Steve Cram

Steve Cram was the first man to run 1,500 m under 3 minutes and 30 seconds.

Steve Cram won the 1,500 m gold medal at the 1983 World Championships and the 1,500 m silver medal at the 1984 Olympic Games.

In 2000, Steve Cram co-founded international children's charity COCO with British Army Major Jim Panton after running the Bosnia Comrades ultramarathon in 1998.

Steve Cram remains chairman of COCO, an organisation which currently provides education to children living in poor, remote parts of East Africa.

Capitalising on his Olympic experience, Steve Cram made his major breakthrough in 1982, a year in which Coe and Ovett were largely absent with injuries.

Steve Cram took 1,500 m gold at the Commonwealth Games and the 1982 European Championships in Athens, where he raced to gold after breaking from the field with 600 metres to go following Williamson's fall.

At Crystal Palace later that summer, Steve Cram won an epic mile race, in which he led Ovett by little more than a metre with 300 metres to go and maintained that lead right to the finishing line.

In 1984, Steve Cram's season was severely hampered by injury, although he recovered sufficiently to win silver in the 1,500 m at the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, behind defending champion Coe.

Steve Cram came back stronger in 1985, a year in which he was only beaten three times; by Coe at 800 m, McKean at 800 m and Ovett in a road Mile.

Steve Cram broke three world records within a 19-day span, and recorded a British All Comers Record over the 1,000 m, running 2:12.88 in windy conditions at Gateshead.

Steve Cram was the first man to run under 3:30.00 for the 1,500 m, just beating Said Aouita in Nice.

Steve Cram followed this up with gold in the 1,500 m and was persuaded to run both events at the 1986 European Championships in Stuttgart.

Steve Cram arrived at the European Championships "just over the edge" as he suggested in David Miller's biography of Coe, "Born to Run".

Steve Cram was beaten by Jose Luis Gonzalez in the European Cup, and although he followed that with an impressive win in the 1,000 m in Stockholm, and won the Dream Mile for the third year running, he finished eighth after leading into the final bend of the 1987 World Championships final in Rome.

Steve Cram had said before the race that his only hope of victory was a fast race, in which he could run the finish out of his opponents, in particular Abdi Bile, the eventual winner.

Steve Cram retired from athletics in 1994, and remains the UK record holder over the 2,000 m, with his UK mile record of 3:46.32 having been broken by Josh Kerr in 2024, in a time of 3:45.34.

Steve Cram was the coach of middle-distance runners Laura Weightman, Thomas Lancashire and Ross Murray.

Steve Cram participated in Prince Edward's 1987 charity television special The Grand Knockout Tournament.

Steve Cram starred alongside UK Olympic Gold medalists Sally Gunnell and Adam Eason in BBC's 2006 primetime TV series Run for Glory, helping the runners and participants overcome psychological barriers to running the London Marathon.

Steve Cram has commentated on athletics events for the BBC since 1999.

At the Atlanta 1996 Olympics, Steve Cram worked for BBC Radio 5 Live.

At the Athens 2004 Summer Olympics, Steve Cram anchored morning coverage of the Games with Hazel Irvine.

Steve Cram returned to the same position for the Rio 2016 Olympics, Tokyo 2020 Games and Paris 2024 Olympics.

Steve Cram has worked on multiple Commonwealth Games for the BBC.

Steve Cram commentated on the athletics events on the Manchester 2002 Games.

At the Melbourne 2006 Games, Steve Cram presented and reported from multiple sports.

Steve Cram returned to the commentary box for the following games: Delhi 2010, Glasgow 2014, Gold Coast 2018 and Birmingham 2022.

Steve Cram was one of the main presenters of the BBC's coverage of the Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics.

Four years later, Steve Cram returned to present and report on the Turin 2006 Games.

Steve Cram commentated on the curling events at the Beijing 2022 Olympics, with Martin, Lockhart and Gray.

Steve Cram's mother Marie was born in Germany and he considered representing Germany because of the dominance of Coe and Ovett.

Steve Cram was married to Karen for many years, but they divorced in 2006 and since then he has lived with former athlete Allison Curbishley in Northumberland.

Steve Cram has two children, Josie and Marcus, who have had some success in under-age races.

Steve Cram had one sibling, a younger brother Kevin, who died in a fall aged 39 while out for a run in Cardiff in 2001.

Steve Cram was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1983.

Steve Cram was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1986 and Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to sport.