Sir – I simply cannot let Christopher Gray's outrageous reference to Seb Coe as “a puffed up popinjay” last week go unanswered — what has Mr Gray ever done of note? Nothing, I suggest.

He has clearly forgotten Coe won an Olympic gold medal, some silver ones and maybe a world record to boot and then led the bid to win the Olympics for London and GB. Puffed up is about the last adjective most people would apply to Coe — but possibly the first when describing Mr Gray's mediocre pomposity.

Perhaps Mr Gray needs a bigger mirror — I checked the definition of a popinjay — a foppish person — fop is a foolish person overly concerned with his own appearance and incapable of engaging in intellectual conversations, activities or thoughts. Sound familiar?

There would be a queue of people lining up to shove the Olympic Torch up Mr Gray's “tradesman’s entrance”.

Harry St John North Leigh

 

(Editor’s note: Sebastian Coe won two gold medals — in the 1,500m at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics — and two silvers in the 800m, arguably his better distance, at the same Games. He did indeed set a world track record. His 1981 time of 1.41.73 in the 800m remained unbeaten until 1997 and is regarded as one of the great world records of athletics history. More than three decades later, only two men have run faster than him over the distance. In all, he set eight outdoor and three indoor world bests. The details of Mr Gray’s athletics career were unavailable at the time of going to press.)