Steve Ovett believes no one will forget his era when British middle distance runners dominated the world.

The current talk is more of foreign stars than our own breed as to who is going to win the medals at 800m and 1500m in the Sydney Olympics.

But the Brighton athletic legend, now 44, and Seb Coe were once part of a golden period for British athletics with their rivalry highlighted by the 1980 Moscow Olympics when Ovett beat Coe at 800m for the title while the positions were reversed at 1500m with the Varndean School old boy collecting bronze.

Ovett has a private life with his wife Rachel and four children and kept a low profile in the build-up to Sydney.

But when I met up with him he was charming, thoughtful and amusing, very much the family man as we discussed our offsprings. Yet he also gave insights about himself, Coe, the times and the Olympics.

He said: ''For a long period, Britain didn't lose a major mile race. Seb and I and later Steve Cram dominated the world at middle distance. Like the Ali period in boxing, no one will forget it. It was an unbelievable era, the like of which will never be seen again."

He compared himself to Coe: "At his best Seb was a superlative performer. I believe he has a better record than me because he is more single minded, putting in really good performances where they count. I have been a bit slap-happy.

"I tended to race when I shouldn't for the hell of it. He never did. You have only ever seen the best of him. I regret not meeting on a British track when we were at our peak, but we had some battles anyway. I think the European championships 800m in Prague in 1978 was a great race. That was the first time the rivalry thing started.

"Funnily enough, we got wrapped up in it ourselves. Olaf Beyer, the East German, didn't play the game and won.

"Then we broke the mile record three times in nine days. He broke it on the Monday, me on Wednesday, Seb again on Thursday. I remember thinking I could break it on Saturday, but there wasn't a race. It was an unbelievable period, a media dream.

"At the Moscow Olympics we won each other's events and added fuel to the fire. I beat him into second in the 800m through sheer determination and Seb's mistakes. Seb came back in the 1500. I was indifferent after the 800.

"But because of the terrible pressure of expectations on both of us it wasn't that enjoyable, it was more relief.

"Our rivalry summed up what I most liked about him: he got the best out of me, but I got the best out of him.

"People ask me 'What's he like?' I don't really know. I feel indifferent towards him as a bloke. "

Individuals like Reg Hook, Brighton and Hove secretary during Ovett's time at the club, and Mike Winch, the former British No.1 shot putter and contemporary at Varndean, speak of the runner as reserved and a great encourager of youngsters.

A statue of Ovett, who moved to East Dean from Brighton and joined Phoenix before going north of the border, stands in Preston Park in his home town, created by a Cardinal Newman school teacher.

Perhaps a few aspiring Olympians should take a look at it to draw inspiration. Ovett would like that.