Garry Peter Cook (born 10 January 1958) is a former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete, who competed mainly in the

800 metres The 800 metres, or meters ( US spelling), is a common track running event. It is the shortest commonly run middle-distance running event. The 800 metres is run over two laps of an outdoor (400-metre) track and has been an Olympic event since t ...

with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes.

Athletics career

He competed for Great Britain in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the sec ...

held in

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in the 4 x 400 metre relay where he won the Silver medal with his teammates

Kriss Akabusi Kezie Uchechukwu Duru Akabusi , MBE (born 28 November 1958), known as Kriss Akabusi, is a British former sprint and hurdling track and field athlete. His first international successes were with the British 4×400 metres relay team, winning a ...

Todd Bennett Todd Anthony Bennett (6 July 1962 – 16 July 2013) was a Great Britain, British athlete who competed mainly in the 400 metres. Athletics career Bennett competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, United Stat ...

and Philip Brown. He 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 represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

in the 800 metres event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in

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Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

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. Four years later he represented

and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia, he also competed in the 800 metres event.

Personal life

After a successful athletics career, Cook qualified and has since practiced as a teacher specialising in Physical Education and Geography. He is married to former fellow Olympian

Kathy Cook Kathryn Jane Cook (née Smallwood; born 3 May 1960) is a former elite athlete, specialising in sprint and sprint relays. She is one of the most successful female sprinters in British athletics history. She is three-times an Olympic bronze meda ...

; they have three children, Sarah (1988), Matthew (1989) and George (1992) and reside in Walsall, England.

References

* 1958 births Living people English male sprinters English male middle-distance runners Olympic athletes of Great Britain Olympic silver medallists for Great Britain Commonwealth Games medallists in athletics 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) Universiade silver medalists for Great Britain Medalists at the 1979 Summer Universiade {{England-athletics-bio-stub