Overseeing IAAF for a Third Term, Former Track and Field Athlete Sebastian Coe Reflects on Unprecedented Changes in the COVID-19 Era

COVID-19 might have disrupted the entire world’s operations, but according to Sebastian Coe, it had its advantages as well! Serving as the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations for the third time, Coe discussed his visions and plans regarding world athletics recently. He stressed on the fact that the world athletics realm is currently brimming with talented athletes and thus, the community is bound to flourish big in the coming days. 

However, once he diversified to the topic of how COVID-19 had impacted the athletes, things got a little surprising. Contrary to the general perception, Coe doubled down on the fact that COVID was beneficial and actually worked in favor of the athletes. 

Sebastian Coe reflects on the positives of COVID

Speaking with the World Athletics Inside Track podcast, Coe dived deep into a variety of topics regarding athletics. Towards the fag end of the show, the discussion turned to the impact covid had on the community as a whole. Surprising the hosts Richard Kilty and Sanya Richards-Ross, Coe stated that COVID actually strengthened the bond between the fans and the athletes. 

Justifying his unconventional take on COVID-19, Coe said, “The COVID brought the athletes closer to the fans and the fans closer to the athletes…everybody was on the same boat for a time.. it sort of leveled.” Coe wanted to express that since the lockdown and the bubble impacted everyone equally, both the fans and the athletes could establish the mental connection of being on a level playing field with no one having an advantage of sorts. 

Coe next turned to the topic of false starts and expressed his idea of establishing a standardized start for every athlete. He also said that under this rule, there would be no illegal reaction time, which would cater to the benefit of the athletes significantly. Continuing with his interview, Sebastian Coe also laid down his visions for World Athletics in the future. 

Sebastian Coe looks to bring in young blood

While speaking about the direction World Athletics would take in the future, Coe quickly chimed in with a major vision. He stated that just like in every sport, Coe envisions inducting a lot of young athletes into the system. This is because it is imperative for a discipline to have talented young blood, who can be nurtured well enough to carry forward the legacy of the sport. 

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Speaking on how to implement the process in athletics, Coe stated, “We have an innovation unit at World Athletics, it is run by our former director of competition, Jakob Larsen, who thinks out of the box. We need to make changes, not for the sake of it. But there are lots of things that we have settled for in the last 150 years and we’ve got to change.” Thus, with a message for change, the realm of athletics would look to bloom in the future with skilled young ones reigning supreme.

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