Lord Sebastian Coe focuses on youth, simplified schedule in IAAF presidency race
Last Updated: 03/12/14 6:21pm
Lord Sebastian Coe is focusing on youth and a simplified competition schedule in his manifesto for the election to the presidency of the IAAF, athletics governing body.
Lord Coe has also vowed not to let his IAAF campaign with former world pole vault champion Sergei Bubka descend into points-scoring, claiming "that's not the way I campaign".
Coe is standing to succeed Lamine Diack, who steps down in August, and will face opposition from Ukrainian Bubka.
Coe, a current IAAF vice-president and double Olympic distance-running champion, said his focus was on re-engaging with youth and addressing the “confusing” athletics global schedule.
“The sport is not dying, let’s rip the obituary up here,” Lord Coe said.
“But it does confront some big challenges, and I’ve said, every bit of internal work we’ve done shows that every year it is more difficult and more challenging to engage young people.
“To do that [athletics needs] the utilisation of all the media platforms that are available, the new tradition - digital, to excite and engage young people, and to understand the landscape they live in.”
Coe even hinted that street athletics could be embraced into the athletics schedule.
Other key points in Coe’s schedule, launched in London, include the allocation of new anti-doping resources, the creation of a new IAAF ethics department, and a focus on giving a greater voice to athletes.
The BOA chief said "a war we cannot lose" would be the tip of the iceberg for his planned ethics department.
"It is not just to the drugs problem, it goes to some of the challenges we will have around illegal betting, age manipulation, about the challenges of transfers of allegiance, making sure athletes are not tradable commodities around the international circuit," said Coe.
"The drug issue is a war we cannot lose.”