London 2012 blog

It was great to meet Seb again yesterday when he came back to visit Tapton School. I first started teaching him when he was 13 and we've been in touch for 35 years.

Yesterday I was immensely proud to be there as he was welcomed back to the school, immensely proud that he was a product of the school where I taught for 26 years. It's wonderful to see how far someone has gone and to know you've had even a fraction of an influence on that person's upbringing.

Seb spoke for 20 minutes without notes and pitched it perfectly to his audience - no mean feat when the audience ranged from 10 - 18 years old.

What was nice was that he had time for everyone - he made sure he spoke to each of the athletes he gave a certificate to, so they'll have something to remember for the rest of their lives. But he's like that, he's always very personable.

I've always paid close attention to Seb's career and his success. He called me the day he got back to Sheffield having won the 1500 at the Moscow Games. I was busy wallpapering the kitchen and had to put the paper down to answer the phone.

After the call, before putting up the wallpaper, I wrote on the wall 'Seb Coe phoned' with the date, to mark the moment for whoever eventually uncovers it.