| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nationality | British (English) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1958-01-10)10 January 1958 (age 67) 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 Britishtrack and field athlete, who competed mainly in the800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes. He competed at the1984 Summer Olympics.[1]
Cook representedEngland in the 800 metres event, at the1978 Commonwealth Games inEdmonton, Canada.[2] Cook finished third behindSteve Scott andJohn Walker in the 800 metres event at the1979 AAA Championships[3] but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete was considered theBritish 800 metres champion[4]
The same happened at the1981 AAA Championships over 400 metres when Cook was third behind AmericansTony Darden andWalter McCoy.[4] The following year he representedEngland[5] and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the1982 Commonwealth Games inBrisbane, Australia; he also competed in the 800 metres event.[6][7]
Cook was a world record holder in the rarely run4×800 m relay as a part of a quartet that also containedPeter Elliott,Steve Cram andSebastian 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 inLos Angeles, in the 4 x 400 metre relay, where he won the silver medal with his teammatesKriss Akabusi,Todd Bennett andPhilip 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 OlympianKathy Cook; they have three children, Sarah (1988), Matthew (1989) and George (1992) and reside in Walsall, England.
