Freddy Ovett describes himself as ‘50-50’ British and Australian, though the soft Queensland accent seems a giveaway. It isn’t quite as simple as that, because Freddy is the son of Steve, 1980 Olympic 800 metres gold medallist and a legend of British sport, whose rivalry with Sebastian Coe captivated a global audience. Three decades on, Freddy is forging his own path — but as a cyclist, not a runner, having switched sports 18 months ago and made such rapid progress that he has trained with Chris Froome, the 2013 Tour de France winner, and recently signed with France’s top development team. Cyclist Freddy Ovett is all smiles as poses for a picture with his former athlete father Steve Ovett . Ovett Jnr spent his first seven years in Dumfriesshire, where his parents moved after Steve’s retirement, and where his father competed in the odd cycle race until he collided with a car in 1994 — by coincidence, the year Freddy was born. Freddy knows little about his father’s brief cycling career, and laughs as he says: ‘I can imagine him rocking up, thinking he was stronger than anyone.’ But he knows everything about his running: ‘My depth of knowledge about the history of athletics is more than my dad’s. I have to correct him sometimes on what he did and didn’t do.’ Freddy and his father Steve hit the running track, somewhere Steve is very familiar with . Father and son are cut from the same cloth. ‘We’re so, so close, and so similar,’ he says. That augurs well for Freddy and badly for opponents, since the older Ovett, now 59, was famously competitive. He was equally famously prickly with the press — a trait that doesn’t seem to have been inherited by the genial, open Ovett Jnr. Had social media existed in the 1980s, it’s difficult to imagine Steve asking a journalist to publish his Twitter handle (it’s @freddyovett, since you ask). Freddy recently signed with France’s top development team after swapping running trainers for a bike . Freddy was a promising middle-distance runner, just like his dad, and in 2012 won a scholarship to the University of Oregon. Then he suffered a knee injury. ‘It was so frustrating. I came back to Australia and did a bit of cycling to keep in shape,’ he says. Tests at the Victorian Institute of Sport suggested he had promise. ‘I think I was meant to be a cyclist all along,’ Freddy says. ‘I always followed it, I was always staying up to stupid hours watching the Tour de France. It fascinated me, despite the scandals. I was a big fan of Lance Armstrong before the whole downfall.’ MEDALS: 800m Olympic gold, 1500m bronze (1980); 1500m European gold (1978); 800m European silver (1974, 1978); 5,000m Commonwealth gold (1986). WORLD RECORDS . Ran a 3:48.8 mile in 1980 to beat Seb Coe’s record . Battled with Coe for the mile record in 1981 — it changed hands three times in nine days . Set three 1500m records between 1980 and 1983 . Set a two mile record in 1978 that lasted nine years . Ovett was also BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1978 . What did his father make of him turning his back on running? ‘When I started cycling, we weren’t speaking,’ says Freddy. ‘It was a strange time, it lasted about a year, which was tough on both of us.’ His parents are divorced and while his mother is still in Noosa, Queensland, his father lives down in Melbourne with his new partner. ‘When I went to Europe last year, my dad and I got back in contact,’ Freddy continues. ‘He sees the way athletics is at the moment and he saw how difficult it was for me to break through. ‘He’s super supportive about my cycling — and excited more than anything. When I speak to him I can sense that.’ Freddy has a lot to live up to if he wants similar levels of success as his father Steve . One of the challenges in athletics, says Ovett Jnr, is dealing with doping, which — surprisingly — he thinks is worse in his original sport than in his new one. ‘Cycling has taken more of an aggressive approach in trying to stamp it out,’ he claims. ‘In athletics, a lot of dodgy stuff is going on that the general public are not aware of, because they’re not knowledgeable enough.’ Freddy, 21, is based in Chambery in the Alps, in an apartment owned by his new team, AG2R. They are as French as cycling teams come, but manager, Vincent Lavenu, a top rider in the 1980s, was interested in a rider called Ovett. ‘He was a fan of my dad’s,’ says Freddy. Steve Cram and Ovett during the heats of the Men's 1500 metres event at the Summer Olympics in 1984 . He shares an apartment with a French rider and a chef comes in to cook lunch and dinner. The team is paying for French classes — he goes to school for three hours a day. The question of his nationality is unresolved. Enquiries were made about him riding for Scotland at last year’s Commonwealth Games, but he is undecided. ‘I have dual citizenship. I don’t want to rush anything,’ he explains. He is wary of declaring for Britain or Australia when he feels he hasn’t proved himself deserving of a place in either national team. Steve was a 1980 Olympic 800 metres gold medallist and a legend of British sport . ‘I need to learn in Under 23 racing before trying to be a hero,’ he says. ‘But I’m definitely not opposed to representing the UK.’ What does his dad think? ‘I don’t know, he’s good at letting me feel my own way. He’s trying to not put too much pressure on me. Both (British and Australian) set-ups are really good — both have incredibly strong national teams.’ Last year, during his first racing trip to Europe, Ovett stayed with his agent, Baden Cooke, in Monaco, which is also where Froome and his Sky team-mate Richie Porte live. Freddy, 21, is based in Chambery in the Alps, in an apartment owned by his new team, AG2R . ‘It was fantastic,’ says Ovett. ‘I went on quite a few rides with Richie and got on really well with him — he checks up on me. And I rode with Chris, including one ride where he was training for the Vuelta. I learned so much. ‘He is such a nice guy and I read a bit about him — he is like this African Maasai warrior, extremely talented but he couldn’t get a handle on how to race. ‘I don’t compare myself with him but I can relate to that. I feel strong enough to make up for my poor bunch racing skills, but I know I’ve got so much to learn.’ Freddy was a promising middle-distance runner and in 2012 won a scholarship to the University of Oregon .
Freddy Ovett is the son of 1980 Olympic 800 metres gold medallist Steve . Steve's rivalry with Sebastian Coe captivated a global audience . Freddy is forging his own path, but as a cyclist, not a runner . He trained with Chris Froome and signed with a French development team .