My hero: Kelly Holmes on Seb Coe

Double Olympic champion Kelly Holmes talks to spikesmag.com about the respect she held for Seb Coe as a youngster and how she has developed a friendship with him in more recent times.

“I first recall watching Seb at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, although I wasn’t an athlete then. It was only in the four-year period before the next Olympic Games after I started running that I started to become aware of the Coe, Cram, Ovett rivalry.

"I was always a big Coe fan and I remember seeing that look of determination on his face as he came down the home straight. Ovett, yes, he always worked hard, but it seemed more like he just floated and went with the flow. I remember watching Coe win the Olympic 1500m final in Los Angeles.

"The first time I ever felt connected to Seb was when I was invited to run as a junior at Crystal Palace in an 800m race. I remember Coe fell on the second lap between 400m and 500m and I ended up falling in the same place. I remember thinking ‘I’ve fallen at the same place as Seb Coe!’ It was a weird, bizarre thing to happen. It was one of those times where I remember having this connection with my hero.

"I first remember meeting him in the 90s when I was competing at an event, although I didn’t really like him when I first met him [laughs]. You know when you really want your hero to be really nice, to be engaging and give you loads of help. He acted a bit like a politician and I thought the guy would be really engaging, really enthusiastic.

"Now I work with him and he is a really nice guy. It is different when you get to know somebody. I have worked with him on the London Olympic 2012 bid and now I like to chat to him about how he gained his knowledge in the business world. The best thing was he presented my gold medal at the Athens Olympic Games. It was like I was stepping into Seb’s shoes 20 years after he won the second of his two 1500m Olympic titles.”