Lord Sebastian Coe

Lord Sebastian Coe is the former Chairman of the 2012 London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and one of the greatest British athletes in history

Using his political skills, his strategic know-how and a true passion for sport, Lord Coe led the Winning Bid team in 2005 to win the right to host the 2012 Olympic Games in London. He was subsequently appointed Chairman of the 2012 London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games.

Lord Coe first made his name as one of the greatest athletes of his generation by winning the 1500m at the 1980 Moscow Olympics and repeating the feat at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, becoming the first man in history to do so. Seb set twelve world records over four distances, achieving four golds and three silver medals in the Olympics and European Championships. He tells the story in his autobiography, Running My Life. Talking about the setbacks as well as victories, he shows how he beat the competition by facing down everything in training: “You don’t become a champion by turning up and hoping to get lucky.”

In speeches Seb takes audiences from his own on-track rivalries to the lessons learned from London – overseeing an enormous infrastructure and logistical exercise in one of the world’s great cities. He highlights the need to build a resilient and dependable team, from a variety of backgrounds; to be seen to deliver on your vision (even while under constant scrutiny); and to communicate pre-emptively and leave nothing to chance. Above all, he underlines the age-old proposition that no amount of theorising replaces ‘the genius of hard work.’

Before he took on the Olympic role Seb served as a Member of Parliament (1992 – 1997), a Government Whip and as Private Secretary to William Hague, giving rise to numerous anecdotes. He also set up a chain of health clubs and acted as a global advisor to Nike.

Seb was honoured to accept a Life Peerage in 2000, becoming Lord Coe of Ranmore. He has since been appointed a KBE, and named ‘Greatest Briton’ in the Morgan Stanley Awards. He remains Vice President of the IAAF, and secured the 2017 World Athletics Championships for London.

Sebastian Coe talks about:

• The Winning Mind
• Delivering on Your Vision
• Taking on World Class Competition
• Transformational Leadership