Garry Peter Cook (born 10 January 1958) is a former

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track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, who competed mainly in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since th ...

with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes.

Athletics career

He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in

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in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his teammates Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett and Philip Brown. He was a world record holder in the rarely run 4×800 m relay as a part of a quartet that also contained Peter Elliott,

Steve Cram Stephen Cram, (born 14 October 1960) is a British retired track and field athlete. Along with fellow Britons Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett, he was one of the world's dominant middle distance runners during the 1980s. Nicknamed "The Jarrow Arr ...

and

Sebastian Coe Sebastian Newbold Coe, Baron Coe, (born 29 September 1956), often referred to as Seb Coe, is a British politician and former track and field athlete. As a middle-distance runner, Coe won four Olympic medals, including 1500 metres gold medal ...

. They ran a time of 7 minutes 3.89 seconds on 30 August 1982 at Crystal Palace. He represented

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in the 800 metres event, at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

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. Four years later he represented

and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the

1982 Commonwealth Games The 1982 Commonwealth Games were held in Brisbane, Australia, from 30 September to 9 October 1982. The Opening Ceremony was held at the QEII Stadium (named after Elizabeth II), in the Brisbane suburb of Nathan. The QEII Stadium was also the ...

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Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, he also competed in the 800 metres event.

Personal life

After a successful athletics career, Cook qualified and has since practiced as a teacher specialising in Physical Education and Geography. He is married to former fellow Olympian Kathy Cook; they have three children, Sarah (1988), Matthew (1989) and George (1992) and reside in Walsall, England.

References

* 1958 births Living people English male sprinters English male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1982 Commonwealth Games Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics World Athletics Championships athletes for Great Britain World Athletics Championships medalists European Athletics Championships medalists Medalists at the 1984 Summer Olympics Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field) Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade {{England-athletics-bio-stub