Seb Coe is hoping to expand the global reach of athletics by hosting a World Championships in Africa if he is elected.
His IAAF presidential campaign has showed little signs of slowing, with Coe using the World Relay Championship in the Bahamas to push his agenda, as well as enjoy some quality athletics.
Coe made know his belief that athletics, in its attempts to reach the entire globe should head to Africa.
“Clearly if we are a truly global sport, the World Championships has to go to Africa and it has to be a high priority,” Coe told BBC Sport.
“The contribution by African middle and long distance runners to athletics has been immense and we need to recognise that.”
With Africans winning both the men’s and women’s marathon in London last week, there is clearly both a sporting pedigree and appetite, but they have hosted very few major sporting events.
Coe was also keen to emphasise the need to go about preparations in the right way to ensure a successful championships:
“It’s very important you don’t just put a World Championships in to a continent without the strength and the marketing and all the culture and education in the lead-up to it,” Coe added.
“Then, once the Championships have arrived and have delivered, you also have to have systems in place post-championships so that they don’t just sort of fall off the cliffside – as they have in the past in many continents.
“So it’s really important that we do get the World Championships there, but that we sit down and figure out how we can best make them work – not just for African athletics but for global athletics.”
Even if Coe comes into power later this it will be a while before he can put his plan into action, with the IAAF World Championships booked up for the next six years. Eugene, USA was just offered the role as hosts for the 2021 event, with the Championships to visit China, England and Qatar in the meantime.
