Keynote Speaker - David Moorcroft

Gold medallist, and former Chief Executive of UK Athletics, David Moorcroft is a former English 1500m and 5000m runner whose competitive career spanned the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Moorcroft was born in Coventry and was a pupil at Woodlands Comprehensive School. He studied Physical Education and Sport Science at Loughborough University and was a member of the Coventry Godiva Harriers athletics club (based on campus).

David started his career as a middle distance runner alongside such luminaries as Steve Cram, Seb (now Lord) Coe and Steve Ovett. He competed in 3 Olympics and highlights of his career include a Commonwealth Gold in the 1500m, the European Record in 3000m and the World and British Record in the 5000m (the latter of which still stands).

After retiring he joined the BBC commentary team and also worked with a variety of regional and national sporting bodies, culminating in his appointment at UK Athletics.

David was chief executive of UK Athletics for 10 years (97-07). He took the organisation from the brink of bankruptcy (then the British Athletic Federation) to become the most commercially successful athletics governing body in the world. Milestone achievements included:

• Building the organisation to a turnover of £20 million, over 100 staff and many thousands of volunteers.
• Growing the Norwich Union sponsorship to £50m, the biggest single sponsorship in British sport outside of football
• Attracting the BBC back in to covering domestic athletics after a break of thirteen years. The BBC cover every element of athletics from grassroots through to Olympic Games - no other sport is "owned" by one major broadcaster in such a unique way.
• Increasing the investment in grass roots athletics to well over £3m a year with an additional £80m of public investment in outdoor and indoor facilities. This is the biggest public investment of any sport in the UK.
• With the retirement of previous stars, fostering the emergence of a new generation of athletes at the 2006 European Championships and IAAF World Junior Championships, with a particular focus on achieving success at London 2012.

He is regularly asked to speak at corporate events around the country, giving keynote presentations, performance workshops and management coaching.