Garry Cook
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| Nationality | British (English) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 10 January 1958 Wednesbury, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 185 cm (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 72 kg (159 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Athletics | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Event | 400m | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | WBAC | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Garry Peter Cook (born 10 January 1958) is a former British track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the 800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics.[1]
Biography
[edit]Cook represented England in the 800 metres event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.[2] Cook finished third behind Steve Scott and John Walker in the 800 metres event at the 1979 AAA Championships[3] but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete was considered the British 800 metres champion[4]
The same happened at the 1981 AAA Championships over 400 metres when Cook was third behind Americans Tony Darden and Walter McCoy.[4] The following year he represented England[5] and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia; he also competed in the 800 metres event.[6][7]
Cook 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 and Sebastian Coe. They ran a time of 7 minutes 3.89 seconds on 30 August 1982 at Crystal Palace.
He competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, in the 4 x 400 metre relay, where he won the silver medal with his teammates Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett and Philip Brown.[8]
After a successful athletics career, Cook qualified and practiced as a teacher specialising in Physical Education and Geography at Bluecoat school Walsall. 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
[edit]- ^ "Garry Cook Biography and Olympic Results". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2010.
- ^ "1978 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ a b "AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- ^ "Cook out on his own". Daily Record. 15 September 1982. Retrieved 14 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "1982 Athletes". Team England.
- ^ "Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 June 2025.
- 1958 births
- Living people
- English male sprinters
- British male sprinters
- English male middle-distance runners
- British male middle-distance runners
- Olympic athletes for Great Britain
- Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain
- 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)
- FISU World University Games silver medalists for Great Britain
- Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade
- Medallists at the 1982 Commonwealth Games
- Commonwealth Games gold medallists in athletics