Seb Coe: World Athletics to review Cross Country format

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe spoke exclusively to Nation Media Group Sports Editor ELIAS MAKORI last weekend on various issues regarding the sport. Excerpts:

Question: Mr President most of these questions are from the athletes themselves. First, is it possible to revert to the annual format for the World Cross Country Championships?

Answer: You know where I sit on this. I’ve been consistently the most supportive voice on the (World Athletics) Council since I joined it in 2003 about cross country. In fact, in every Council meeting, I have spoken about cross country.

We were determined to try and create the most innovative course and we had the opportunity to do this in Aarhus (this year) and we have another coming up in 2021.

The judgement that was made by Council to do it every two years, in other words biennially, is one that was made after I’d been there anyway.

These things are always going to be under review. I’m a passionate believer in cross country. I know the impact cross country has had on track and field in Kenya – all the top distance runners have been excellent cross country runners.

I myself was a cross country runner, not as talented as your nation, but it was an important part of the mental and physical approach.

Under the new governance structure, we have the new Competitions Commission which will be up and running soon and I’m sure they will want to review a whole lot of things, of which cross country will be one of them.

Q: Athletes in Kenya also feel the steeplechase is not being taken seriously…

A: The steeplechase is being taken seriously.

If you look at the possibility of running the men’s and women’s steeple in the Diamond League, it has lost just two opportunities.

There’s still five opportunities to run the Diamond League in the steeple.

You know where we started… we wanted to speed up the pace of the meetings, we wanted the broadcast window to be reduced, because broadcasters and many of the athletes themselves were saying that a new format was important.

And we found a new title sponsor for the first time in eight years, because we made these changes.

But Elias, I’m not going to sit here and pretend to you that every one of these changes is popular.

The decision into what went into that 90-minute (television broadcast) window was made unanimously by all the (Diamond League) meeting directors, 14 of them. It’s the only thing they all agreed on that day.

I do honestly think that the Continental circuit would be a good opportunity, not a consolation prize, because it’s an important circuit itself, but it will be a good opportunity for most steeplechase events.

But as I keep explaining, this is all going to be reviewed on an annual basis.

When you make change you should always know that there are some things that will work better than others.

But I’m absolutely committed to making sure that we review that at the end of every season.

Q: On the issue of missed tests in anti-doping, many of the athletes feel they get punished because they don't understand the rules. What needs to be done?

A: I can report some very good progress in this because the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) has athletes’ education absolutely at the top of the list.
It’s one of their biggest priorities.

I know that the AIU was running a seminar one week ago in Nairobi (Eldoret) and they reported to me phenomenal engagement with the athletes, and that they were able to talk to the athletes about the anti-doping processes, what was expected of the athletes and what the AIU can do to help in certain circumstances.

The response was enormous, so we have to keep doing this.

If you look at the money that World Athletics has invested with Kenya in the ability to test blood samples in Africa for the first time rather than to risking them having to go further afield – all this will make a difference.

Q: The athletes also want to know if the biological passport is 100 percent tamper proof or fool proof…

A: The biological passport is one of the most important developments we have had in our sport.

The ability to be able to watch the readings of athletes over a lengthy period of time is really, really important, and they are in events where you really need to do that.

Is it 100 percent fool proof? I’d be risking it if I said yes, but what I do think is that this is a system that has served sport well and has caught the cheats who would not otherwise have been caught if we were only simply looking at analytical findings.

Q: Recently, Iten was recognized as a World Athletics Heritage Site. Is there any possibility of World Athletics funding the construction of a training track and training facilities in Iten?

A: We get requests all the time. We will explore all those types of opportunities both with ourselves, the partnerships we have with the International Olympic Committee and also through our international foundation.

Q: There is concern over road races mushrooming in China, some which don’t pay the athletes, who are also mistreated at some of these races. Is this a concern to World Athletics?

A: Look, I can’t answer these cases individually, but, Elias, if the athletes at any stage feel they are being abused or they are not being treated fairly, then we have the Athletics Integrity Unit where they can report them to and they will look at it very seriously.

If they are making sustainable accusations, it’s something the AIU will take seriously.

Q: Is there a possibility of setting up a urine testing centre within Kenya?

A: To be honest Elias, that’s probably a question better asked of the Athletics Integrity Unit. We are not operational in that area, but I’m sure that Brett Clothier (head of AIU) and the guys of AIU will answer that question.

But I’m happy to ask on your behalf, if that helps...

Q: Some athletes changing nationality say they get promised heaven by their new countries, then when their careers run out, they get mistreated. Is there anything World Athletics can do?

A: That’s why we changed the rules! That’s why we have completely changed the approach. That is exactly what I was trying to get away from.

We have a national review panel, and they look at each and every one of these cases, they make a judgement as to whether they are exceptional or not…

We have been very tough! Nobody under the age of 20 can now apply (for change of nationality); if a passport or citizenship is issued, it’s irrevocable and can’t just be dissolved if athletes finish their careers; we need to interview athletes and make sure they understand what they agree to when they change country.

So it’s much, much tougher and it’s exactly why we made the changes.

Then again, if at any stage, having been given that status to change nationality for only good reason, not reasons that have been used in the past, and its still being abused, then they should feedback to the AIU.

It’s important to understand if it’s (rule) is still being abused. The system is a lot better than it used to be.

Q: World Athletics does a lot of courses for coaches and technical officials. How is the performance evaluated to see if its helpful?

A: There are different levels of coaching. There are CEC courses and there are programmes developed through the development programmes, so we monitor the usefulness of our development, and we will be tougher in future about how we monitor that, to ensure that the money being spent, wherever it is being spent throughout the world, is spent well and that the athletes and federations are benefitting from it.

There are very good coaching programmes and we will ensure they continue like that.

Q: We don’t have too many African officials (judges, etc) at the World Championships, and even on the Diamond League circuit. What can be done to give Kenyan and African officials more exposure?

A: We don’t invite officials on the Diamond League circuit. Those officials are invited by the individual meetings.

That is a discussion that the area (Africa) associations will need to have with the individual meeting directors, it’s not something World Athletics would be responsible for.

But what I can tell you is that when we look at technical officials, technical delegates and those support services, I have absolutely made it clear that where you have the talent, and where possible, it is very important that our sport is represented at that level globally.

We cannot support inexperienced technical officials into major championships because that will serve athletes very badly.

Q: So we are hoping to see many Kenyan officials at the World Under-20 Championships in Nairobi next year?

A: Of course! And I’m sure that the Kenyan federation will also want to use talent from other parts of the world as well to help in the delivery.

Q: There is no African city on the newly-formed Continental Tour. Nairobi is interested. What’s the progress?

A: I know that Athletics Kenya is determined to be on that Tour and are working towards that end.

We made it very clear that we want the Continental Tour not to just use the world ‘continental’ for no reason.

We wanted to embrace all the area (continental) associations and I made a particular point at the Council meeting in Monaco (last month) to make sure that everybody understood that Africa must be represented, given the extra-ordinary athletes that you have.

I know that (Athletics Kenya President) Jackson Tuwei and Athletics Kenya is determined to be in this and they are working to that end.

Q: There’s this feeling that World Athletics is leaning too much towards China, especially with Wanda Group of China coming in as World Athletics sponsors, and that you have a soft spot for china…

A: I have a soft spot to everywhere in world athletics.

My responsibility is to try and grow the sport wherever I can.

In some areas it is harder to do that than others, but we will make every effort to be as even as we can.

For eight years, the Diamond League had no sponsor. Wanda, which is a large global company, has shown a lot of confidence in our sport.
These things are always a balance.

China is a massive market for us. Over seven million people ever year run marathons, and it’s a big running country.

It’s important that in that market place, we have a very good presence.

My challenge in the next three years is to make sure that that presence is truly global.

I was very pleased that Wanda committed to supporting athletes and from that support we are able to support the Continental circuit and create better financial structures for the athletes.

Q: On governance, you recently really cut down on commissions and committees at World Athletics. What’s the thinking behind this?

A: It’s very simple. I’ve not thought that the 36, 37, sometimes arguably 40 different groups all meeting once a year were able to achieve what they should.

All the changes we have made in our sport have been made by small working groups working to a time frame, within an agreed resource and delivering on these issues.

Transfers of allegiance, 200 changes to our governance structures, the second logo on the vest allowing athletes and federations to earn more from their sport… none of these was achieved through a commission. It was all achieved by working groups.

So we have condensed the commissions to four. Four driving pillars of our sport including competition and development, and then the ability to utilize the talent that’s in the sport to be working groups that then set alongside the commissions and can work to specific programmes.

When I’ve got people that are prepared to give their time voluntarily to our commissions and to our governance structures, it’s also my responsibility to make sure that they are not wasting their time.

Q: Are you happy with the Sapporo arrangement (2020 Olympic Games marathon and race walk events moved from Tokyo to Sapporo)?

A: I’m happy in so far as the decision was made. It wasn’t a decision made by World Athletics, it was a decision by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee.

But our responsibility now is to make sure that we deliver all the operational needs to make sure the athletes are not impacted.

Sapporo is 800 kilometres from Tokyo and there are questions about support staff, accreditation, flights, how you make sure the athletes are looked after properly…

Once the IOC has made that decision, the bigger challenge is to make sure it works for the athletes and the federations and that’s what we are working through at the moment.

Q: Any final message for Kenyans?

A: Yes of course! I want everybody in Kenya to have a wonderful festive break.

We are really excited about, yet again, being in Nairobi to watch great world athletics in the under-20s next summer.

I look forward particularly, and that will be one of the highlights of my year. And not only that, but to meet up with all my friends in Kenya!