LONDON, England (AFP) — The fierce rivalry between British middle-distance greats Sebastian Coe and Steve Ovett is set to turned into a film, it was announced here yesterday.

The two runners were the dominant forces over 800 metres and 1500 metres in the late 1970s and early 1980s when the world record for the mile became the personal property of the pair as they each won Olympic medals.

The film, which will be based on British athletics writer’s Pat Butcher’s ‘The Perfect Distance’, widely regarded as the definitive account of their rivalry, is set to showcase the contrasting personalities of the suave, ‘establishment’ Coe and the ‘outsider’ Ovett.

“You were either an Ovett person or a Coe person and that’s what makes it such a great character piece as well,” producer Vicky Licorish said.

At the 1980 Moscow Olympics they each won the other’s favoured event, with Ovett taking gold in the 800m and Coe triumphing in the 1500m, a title he defended successfully in Los Angeles four years later when Ovett was struggling with injury.

Their rivalry, which saw them swop the world mile record three times in the space of 10 days in 1981, gripped British sports fans in general and fascinated athletics followers around the world.

Coe — now Lord Coe — is the chairman of London 2012 and the film is expected to be released ahead of the next Olympic Games.

Ovett now lives in Australia but continues to stay involved in athletics as a commentator for satellite television channel Eurosport.

Los Angeles-based British writer William Davies, whose previous credits include Twins and Johnny English, has been hired to write the screenplay.

Co-producer Joanna Anderson said: “Will is a fantastic writer who is a keen sportsman. He has been fired up by this story which means so much to a UK audience and is the British Olympic story which also gripped the US.”

This is not the first time British athletes have been central to a movie.

Chariots of Fire, which told the story of Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams’s exploits at the 1924 Paris Olympics, won four Oscars in 1981 including best picture and best screenplay for Colin Welland’s script.