Daley Thompson calls it his moment, the decision which enabled him to become Olympic champion 40 years ago today. Thompson would go on to cement a reputation as Britain’s greatest male all-round athlete, winning gold at successive Games as well as one Worlds, two Europeans and three Commonwealths.
But none of that may have happened but for an act of defiance by Sir Denis Follows, then chairman of the British Olympic Association.
That is Thompson’s own belief, recalling a glittering career which he also attributes to sharing the stage with Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram. “I know for sure that had it not been for Coe, Ovett and Cram I wouldn’t be anywhere near as famous as I am,” he said. “My sport didn’t even make the newspapers in
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