Seb Coe

I mean, it was a really, it was an interesting place to be.

And then of course, four years later,

You know, I end up in Los Angeles with the comedic, you know, the comedic, you know, extravaganza of 84 white grand pianos with Liberace lookalikes.

I'll explain to you who Liberace is.

You were probably too young to remember.

But we had Rocket Man taking off in the, you know, on the finishing straight that managed to burn a hole in the track.

And I roomed with Daley both in LA and in Moscow.

And although we didn't leave the village in Moscow other than to compete in LA, we were just able to walk out of village up into Westwood and have a burger and relax.

It was a very, very different atmosphere.

And I can't think there were two games that any athletes have been to that have been so different than Moscow and then Los Angeles.

It's an interesting story, but let me pick up on the substantive point you make there, Spencer, which is absolutely, you're on the money.

800 metres, it's not one of the most complicated or the most, it is, I think, of all the track distances, I think it is the most demanding.

And you're right, it calls on what is now really 400 metre world-class leg speed,

It also means you should have the endurance of a good 5,000-meter runner.

I was brought up in Sheffield in South Yorkshire where everything from my front door was uphill and cross-country was something it felt like I was doing cross-country the whole year round.

It's, and the physiology of 800 meters is equally challenging because you can basically only, at world-class pace, you can only really absorb about 20% of the oxygen you need to get through the event.

Your training has to be focused on managing to buffer gallons of lactic acid.

So it's all speed, endurance, and tough training.

And then in the race itself, it's the only race that starts off outside of relays in lanes.

You then brake after 110 meters.