Garry Peter Cook (born 10 January 1958) is a former British track and field athlete, who competed mainly in the 800 metres with a best time of 1:44.55 minutes. He competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
Biography
Cook represented England in the 800 metres event, at the 1978 Commonwealth Games in Edmonton, Canada.2 Cook finished third behind Steve Scott and John Walker in the 800 metres event at the 1979 AAA Championships3 but by virtue of being the highest placed British athlete was considered the British 800 metres champion4
The same happened at the 1981 AAA Championships over 400 metres when Cook was third behind Americans Tony Darden and Walter McCoy.5 The following year he represented England6 and won a gold medal in the 4 x 400 metres relay, at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane, Australia; he also competed in the 800 metres event.78
Cook 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 competed for Great Britain in the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, in the 4 x 400 metre relay, where he won the silver medal with his teammates Kriss Akabusi, Todd Bennett and Philip Brown.9
After a successful athletics career, Cook qualified and practiced as a teacher specialising in Physical Education and Geography at Bluecoat school Walsall. He is married to former fellow Olympian Kathy Cook; they have three children, Sarah (1988), Matthew (1989) and George (1992) and reside in Walsall, England.
References
"Garry Cook Biography and Olympic Results". Sports-Reference. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2010. https://web.archive.org/web/20121024171238/http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/athletes/co/garry-cook-1.html ↩
"1978 Athletes". Team England. https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/edmonton-1978/athletes ↩
"AAA, WAAA and National Championships Medallists". National Union of Track Statisticians. Retrieved 12 June 2025. https://www.nuts.org.uk/Champs/AAA/index.htm ↩
"AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 12 June 2025. http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm ↩
"AAA Championships (men)". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 12 June 2025. http://www.gbrathletics.com/bc/aaa.htm ↩
"Cook out on his own". Daily Record. 15 September 1982. Retrieved 14 June 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive. https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0003741/19820915/028/0028 ↩
"1982 Athletes". Team England. https://teamengland.org/commonwealth-games-history/brisbane-1982/athletes ↩
"Athletes and results". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 28 September 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20210627113016/https://thecgf.com/results/athletes/37958 ↩
"Biographical Information". Olympedia. Retrieved 12 June 2025. https://www.olympedia.org/athletes/68976 ↩