 He began his athletic career by running in the Young Athletes League for his local club, Rotherham Harriers, and his 800m time of 1 minute 53.3 seconds has been the under-17 record since 1979.Elliott also held the UK under-17 record with a time of 1 minute 50.7 seconds, which stood for nearly 10 years.He excelled as a schoolboy athlete, winning four English Schools titles, twice at 800 metres and twice over the country.