Athletics Life Stories

Charlie Spedding, Unlikely Olympic Hero

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Episode notes

Still no5 in the UK all-time men's marathon rankings and the last British athlete to have won and Olympic marathon medal, Charlie Spedding remains one of the great names in the UK over the classic distance. His name in the record books seemed unlikely growing up in a mining community in North East England where he would struggle academically and even in PE. He did find he had ability in endurance running, but it took him a decade to emerge from a pack of distance running talent in the region to become one of the world's leading marathon runners, going on to win in London, take bronze in LA 1984 and go on to place 6th at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

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