Great British athletics legends were present at Todd Bennett’s memorial service at Romsey Abbey this afternoon.

Among them were Lord Sebastian Coe, Darren Campbell and many former teammates of the 400m runner, who was part of the silver medal winning 4x400 relay squad at 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, writes Peter Howard.

Current Team GB athlete’s, sprinter Christian Malcolm, long jumper Chris Tomlinson and runner Rob Tobin were also at the event. Bennett lost his six-month battle against cancer last week at the age of 51 and hundreds of people turned out to pay testament to one of the sport’s legends. The service heard tributes from his wife, Vanessa, and his son, Aaron, as well as a speech by his coaching group which spoke about the athlete’s incredible life as a family man and coach.

The 400m squad members Kriss Akabusi and Phillip Brown paid homage to Bennett’s running career – along with other former runners Roy Dickens and Derek Redmond among others. They told stories of the times they spent with Bennett, who they nicknamed the ‘imp’ due to his small stature.

At the conclusion of the anecdotes they sang a rendition of James Taylor’s anthem You’ve Got a Friend as they bade farewell to their teammate and close friend. Campbell, who was part of the 4x100m relay team that won the gold medal the 2004 Athens Olympics, spoke about his work with Bennett at Team Super Schools which helped thousands of school children to play sports. And the Reverend Tim Sledge reflected on Bennett’s efforts to always go the extra mile for young sportspeople and his ‘passing the baton’ to the next generation.

The service ended with the song Eye of the Tiger by Survivor, with which Bennett motivated himself during his years as a runner in which he achieved a World Indoor 400m record and won medals in the 400m and 4x400m relays at the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and European Championships.