Seb Coe: Continental Tour series has yielded new stars on the track

World Athletics President Seb Coe is happy with the progress countries have made in Continental Tour Series events, saying that the competitions which form the second tier of international one-day meetings after the Diamond League series have opened avenues for fresh talent.

It is at the 2021 Kip Keino Classic, the Kenyan leg of the World Athletics Continental Tour Series held at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, that Ferdinand Omanyala, who is also the Commonwealth Games champion, set a new African record over 100 metres of 9.77 seconds.

On July 22, Omanyala became the first Kenyan to win the 100m race in the Diamond League when he timed 9.92sec to win in Monaco ahead of Botswana’s Letsile Tebogo.

“The Continental Tour has made a big impact in Nairobi, and early this year in Botswana (Botswana Golden Grand Prix). These were very good meetings and I want to see more. I also want to see a second Diamond League race in Africa outside of Rabat. Creating outlets in Africa for athletes is part of our programme,” he said.

“I was telling (Athletics Kenya President) Jackson Tuwei that if anybody had told me five years ago that you could deliver a Continental Tour event that was known around the world as a sprints event, and athletes wanting to get to Nairobi to record good sprint times in a spot that has always been a stronghold for endurance running, who would have believed it? And this has been because of the influence one person has had on the sport,” Coe said.

Now in its fourth edition, the Kip Keino Classic which is a World Athletics continental tour gold level series, has attracted star printers, among them men’s 100m world champion Fred Kerley, world 100m bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell, world 100m silver medalist Marvin Bracy-Williams, world and Olympics 200m silver medalist Kenneth Bednarek, all from USA, American sprints sensation Sha’Carri Richardson, and women’s 100m world champion Shelly-Anne Fraser-Pryce from Jamaica.

This year’s edition was held on May 13 at MISC, Kasarani.

While speaking to selected journalists on a conference call on Monday, Coe also defended the high standards the global athletics body set for athletes to meet so as to qualify to compete in the 2023 World Athletics Championships which will be held from August 19-27 in Budapest.

“The world championships has to be for the best of the best. I think the Olympic Games have more scope to look at universality. Our world championships account for over 90 percent of the input of this organization, and we must ensure we get those championships right. They reach over a billion eyeballs, and this is a big event, so we must ensure that we get the best athletes,” he said.

He also hinted at the introduction of a new three-day track and field series to expand the offerings to fans, possibly from 2026.

“We are not there yet, but it will be a very different format that focusses very much on the best of the best. It will probably be over two days or three nights, and it will be designed for TV. We want it to be an incubator as well to test some new things that we can assimilate into the sport going forward.

“The next four years will be about focus on quality competitions, improving the experience in and around the stadium, and making sure that our competitions reflect the lifestyles of young people,” the head of World Athletics said.

He said the withdrawal of Victoria State as hosts of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Australia was unfortunate.

“I am not sure whether that is the way host cities have operated historically, but the Commonwealth Games will survive this. It is a strong product.

“There are things we have discussed with the team in the past about innovating, and I thing Commonwealth Games have a great opportunity to do that. They have more flexibility and less branding restrictions, and there is potential for growth.  I hope someone will be in a position to step in.”

On doping, the head of the global athletics body said the organisation was doing enough to ensure the integrity of the sport.

“The Athletics Integrity Unit has made significant difference to the landscape, both reputational and structural around anti-doping. Gone are the days when there was a feeling that reputation was a protector.  It is now independently done. We have lost champions on the eve of a championship, and I think that lends confidence.”

Coe also praised Kenya’s efforts in dealing with the doping menace, particularly a multi-pronged approach employed by the country.

Athletics was dealt a blow in July when women’s 100m hurdles world record holder Tobi Amusan of Nigeria, the reigning world champion from last year, was charged with an alleged anti-doping whereabouts rule violation.

Amusan is accused of missing three tests in 12 months.

Coe also defended decisions made by the Athletics Integrity Unit to restore integrity to the sport.

“Our sport has improved its reputation more than any other sport in the last two years by a distance because we have been prepared to tackle the issues around doping,” he said.

“Anti-doping measures that AIU has implemented were at the centrepiece of my report when I became World Athletics President to put confidence back into the sport. It is good to know that the politics around these decisions was removed, that the testing is independent.”

“People now recognise that it doesn’t really matter whether you are a world record holder, irrespective of your reputation, there  are processes and wherebouts is very much an important process of that,’” he said.