Caitlin Dillon
Relevance, trust, and leadership are the key areas to address in the future of sport. This is the message that Lord Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics and former Olympian, was keen to relay to his audience as he addressed the 83rd AIPS Congress in Budapest, Hungary on Tuesday.
In the last year alone, World Athletics, then the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), has made the headlines on numerous occasions. With stories ranging from the Caster Semenya debate to the World Athletics Championships’ inaugural edition in the Arab World, it is clear that the sporting arena in which they operate is ever-evolving.
And yet, athletics events the world over are witnessing a drop in attendance. In an Alkass Digital exclusive in September on the sidelines of the IAAF World Athletics Championships, former World Champion Carl Lewis spoke about the waning interest in the sport, “If you look at the European meets, if you look at the Asian meets, the meets around the world, the attendance is going down… If you go over the Diamond League schedule, the diamond league schedule didn’t have big crowds.”
Lewis suggested that something needs to change, “so that we can build our sport globally, so that everyone will be able to have great crowds to run in front of.”
After eight years as Vice-President, Coe was appointed President of the IAAF, as has since been on a mission to re-invigorate athletes and fans alike, stating in Budapest that the “single objective” in athletics over the last four years has been to rebuild trust.
The Olympic gold medallist re-iterated, ”Sport is more important than ever, and we do have a responsibility to make it more relevant to young people today.”
Addressing a room full of sports journalists, Coe urged that a responsible and credible media is vital to help attract and engage young people into sport, warning his listeners, “Sport will dry up unless it is presented with proportionality and relevance.”