Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

112 ANDY NORMAN Andy Norman, in his youth, was a good club standard athlete, with best times of 49.8 for 440 yards and 1:54.1 for 800m. He became a policeman, rising to the rank of sergeant in the Metropolitan Police in London, but retained his interest in athletics and became involved in the Met Police Athletic Club and the Southern Counties Association. He quickly made a name for himself as someone who could get things done and became more and more involved in the organisation of events which, in turn, led him into contact with the athletes. In the 1970s most of the important competitions were in Europe where events in Zurich, Oslo and elsewhere were attracting attention. These events commanded large budgets, provided by TV and sponsors, but needed a flow of top class athletes to satisfy their paymasters’ demands for quality competition. British stars and others were much in demand and Andy Norman gained the confidence of many of Britain’s top athletes, including in particular middle distance record breaker Steve Ovett, and seized the opportunity with the contacts he had made to feed these athletes into the European events. This was good for these athletes, of course, but where Norman was clever was that he made it a condition that, along with the stars, the European meeting promoters also had to take up and coming athletes who needed the competition. This approach made everyone happy and provided valuable international experience for a wide range of British athletes. Thus Andy Norman created a reputation for himself. The two most innovative events staged in Britain in the early eighties were the Peugeot Games, organised by the Southern Counties Association in midsummer and the end of season Coke (Coca Cola) event organised by the International Athletes Club. The key to these events was the quality of the athletes and it was essential to attract the best. Andy