‘Harry Potter’ star Daniel Radcliffe to play Olympic runner Sebastian Coe in new movie

LONDON – “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe has signed on to play British Olympic runner Sebastian Coe in a movie about rivalries on the running track.

“Gold” will tell the story of the tense rivalry between Coe and fellow middle distance runner Steve Ovett in the run-up to the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where Ovett won the 800 metres and Coe took the 1500 metres. Coe, also a gold medallist in 1984, went on to become a politician and headed the London organizing committee at last year’s summer Olympics.

The movie will reunite the 24-year-old Radcliffe with James Watkins, the director of the play “The Woman in Black.”

Filming is expected to begin in in April 2014.

Radcliffe’s publicist confirmed Radcliffe’s casting on Wednesday. The casting for Ovett has not yet been announced.

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