Sebastian Coe

February 7, 2025
· 5 min read

The eloquent Times columnist Matthew Syed’s thoughtful piece yesterday (6/2/25) on the immense and often unsung contribution mothers make to their children’s sporting success struck a chord with me.

It got me thinking about my own mum who taught me so many wise lessons when I was a young athlete and about life generally.  From the age of 11 my father bought me my first pair of running shoes.  He was my coach for the entirety of my athletics career, but my mother was an essential counterweight in the equilibrium of the family.  She was always in the background keeping things as normal as possible.  The protective shield.  She would be able to look at me and know instinctively when it was time to take me off to the cinema or theatre.  She used to say to me: “with your two sisters and your brother I always say please be careful out there, be safe.  With you it is different.  As soon as you see a storm you run towards it.”  

Matthew’s TIMES piece tells the story of Anne, mother of mercurial England rugby star Danny Cipriani. Anne was a single mum who worked double shifts driving a black cab to earn enough to pay schools fees to give her richly talented boy the best chance to fulfil his sporting potential. Matthew writes: ‘Anne is not a sportswoman, never won the Olympics, didn’t climb to the top of a podium, but she’s perhaps the most inspirational person I’ve interviewed… the personification of grit, decency, humanity, self-reliance and the other qualities I have come to most admire in life.’

He quotes Danny, arguably the most naturally talented fly half of his generation, as saying: “My achievements don’t compare to Mum’s,” he said. “She is the inspirational person in my family, not me.”

Matthew says he loves Danny’s quote ‘because it captures a profound truth. If you want to understand many of the best things in life, take a look at humanity’s most precious institution: the family. A loving family is an asset more valuable than diamonds — and those of us lucky enough to have experienced this blessing should never fail to appreciate it.’

Couldn’t agree more.

Matthew draws comparisons with Sandra, mother of David Beckham, my friend Judy Murray, mother of Andy and Jamie and Tiger Woods’s mum Kutilda, who sadly passed away this week. And he wraps up a profoundly moving column with his ‘favourite Olympic moment’.

It’s a story I remember well from London 2012.  Gemma Gibbons is a judoka by her incredible single mum who fuelled her passion for sport, drove her to training every day and was her inspiration until she lost her life to leukaemia in 2004. 

As Matthew says, when Gemma won bronze at London 2012 she ‘sank to her knees, lifted her eyes to the heavens and whispered: “I love you, Mum.” They are words that express so much about the meaning of life.’

As I said at the beginning my mother was an essential counterweight in the equilibrium of the family - and a constant reminder to all of us of the importance of families in our personal journey.  She was critical in getting me to recognise very early on that although what I was doing was pretty serious, quite selfish, and probably to most people pretty obsessive, there actually was more to life than running quickly twice round a track.

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