Steve Cram and Sebastian Coe re-live incredible rivalry that captured the world’s attention

MENTION the golden period of 1980s athletics, and two men come to mind.

Sebastian Coe and Steve Cram helped make Britain a dominant force when it came to middle distance running during the disco era.

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Coe, now 61, won two Olympic gold medals, in Moscow in 1980 and LA in 1984, while Cram came runner-up in the 1,500m but dominated in the European Championships.

As part of a 'Reunited' feature series by talkSPORT, Cram and Coe recalled how popular athletics was during their era.

Cram said: "It's really hard to explain to people what the impact in the summer of athletics was in the 80s.

"When I broke the world record in Nice and in Oslo both ITV and the BBC televised it at the same time.

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"So imagine as a viewer going, 'Oh there's athletics in Zurich and in Oslo on both channels at the same time.' You couldn't miss it."

Coe added: "People watching television just expected a British athlete to win a European title."

The two men pushed each other to dominate on the world stage.

But Coe, four years older than Cram, said he can pinpoint the moment he realised the quality of his rival.

He said: "1981 for me was when I realised you were very good.

"I think I broke the world record that night and you came back very strongly during the race.

"I watched it back on the video and I thought this is somebody who is going to be quite a handful in the next few years."

Another domestic rival who shocked Coe was Steve Ovett.

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In 1980, Ovett won the 800m which was Coe's speciality, and he recalled the reaction of the press.

He said: "You go in there as the world-record holder.

"You go in there on paper two seconds faster than anyone else on the field, and you screw up really badly.

"One of the nationals ran a photograph of me training the following day with the headline 'Coe's Trail of Shame.'"

Cram remembered the reaction, too.

The 57-year-old said: "I thought, 'Wow, that looks like a broken man.

"It really hit home to me. I was 19 at the time and I thought is it really that serious? I hadn't experienced anything like that and looked at that and took a long hard swallow."

Listen to Re:United - Steve Cram vs. Sebastian Coe on