Video: Great Olympic Moments: Sebastian Coe v Steve Ovett at the Moscow Olympics Coe, the smooth operator preparing himself for a life in politics that would eventually lead to the House of Lords, was expected to win the first, the 800 metres; Ovett, the edgy one who would emigrate to the classless utopia of Australia, would then take his revenge, the formbook suggested, in the 1500 metres. But Ovett, who revelled in his contrariness, would pull of a major surprise. Boxed in, he first barged his way through the field, making maximum use of his elbows, before unleashing a run from 70 metres out. His surge ended any hope Coe had of making up for what he would admit was his tactical error of hanging back too long. Coe beat his breast, chiding himself for having run the worst race of his life. He piled the pressure on himself by saying the 1500 metres, was going "to be the race of my life. I must win it. Which is precisely what he did - with Ovett back in third. The fear of a second failure catapulted him to a 52.2sec final lap and a time of 12.1sec for the closing 100 metres. On the medals podium Coe looked to the heavens. He said he did it because "perhaps somebody, somewhere, loves me after all." Ovett and Coe both made it to the next Olympics with their chances compromised by health issues. While Ovett's overwhelmed him - he ended his Games on a stretcher - Coe demonstrated once again his competitive steel by taking silver in the 800 and becoming the only man to retain the 1500 metres title.