My travels: Sebastian Coe
Olympian Seb Coe loves to travel
London 2012
The YMCA, Melbourne and Chicago's jazz scene get full marks from Sebastian Coe. The double Olympic gold medallist and Chairman of the London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games tells Nick McGrath about his travel likes and dislikes.
“As an international athlete – and subsequently through my work with the British Olympic Committee – I’ve been lucky enough to travel all over the world, visit some wonderful countries and spend time in many fascinating cities. And unlike some athletes, I’m not one to stay in my hotel room before a race. Some athletes don’t like leaving the Olympic Village but I’ve never really liked doing that. I’ve always preferred to get there a few days in advance to acclimatise and get used to any time changes that were necessary. Sometimes you do that over a period of a couple of weeks. In the lead-up to the Los Angeles Olympic Games in 1984, I was in Chicago for nearly four weeks getting used to a six-hour time difference. I then moved to LA two weeks before the games to get used to just the final two hours, and I’ve always been a firm believer that when you’re in a foreign country for six or seven weeks you can’t just sit in a hotel room or remain within the confines of the village. You want to get out.
Chicago sounds
Stockbyte/Thinkstock
Hand luggage memories
My hand luggage has changed over the years, but when I was competing I would never travel without my running spikes because you can put anything you want through the hold of a plane and if it doesn’t come out you can always replicate it; but you can’t replicate in a couple of days a pair of racing shoes that are comfortable and broken in and are just at the right stage of their life for them to do exactly what you need them to do. So the thought of losing those doesn’t bear thinking about. With the increase in security at airports these days I guess athletes must have to remove the spikes from the trainers before they take them on board.
Aussie rules
Istockphoto/Thinkstock
Don’t like…
Like most people I like to do a mixture of things when I’m travelling. I like to take a few days out immediately when I get there to acclimatise but then my natural enthusiasm and curiosity takes hold, and I go and see the city and the galleries. I’m not really one for lying on a beach, but having said that I’ve never really tried it.
Rooms with a view…
Beau Rivage
Trains, not planes or automobiles
London calling
MM Productions/Thinkstock
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