Lord Coe has inherited a sport in crisis but the new IAAF president does not believe that mistrust should extend to Britain’s record-breaker Mo Farah.
By winning the 5 000m title on Saturday after his 10 000m victory the previous week, Farah became the most successful distance runner in World Championships history, with five golds and one silver medal. He is also the first athlete to do the ‘triple double’ of winning both titles at three consecutive major championships.
There are some who doubt it is possible to attain such greatness without doping, but Coe believes the speculation is unfair.
‘Athletics is more than a discussion about test tubes, blood and urine,’ he said.
‘Mo is a wonderful athlete. I have watched his progress, stood at the side of tracks and awarded him medals when he was a junior athlete.
‘This is part of the challenge we have. I remember breaking the world mile record in 1981 and I was dubbed an overnight sensation. I had to remind them it had taken me 10 years to get to that position.
‘We have to be careful when we start making assumptions about quality and unpredictable results. It is slightly sad, the territory we have inherited. Part of my responsibility is to move the sport off that territory.’
Farah’s victories this week, which he ranks second only to those at the 2012 Olympics, have sparked debate about where the 32-year-old sits in the pantheon of British sporting greats. Former distance runner Brendan Foster said Farah is at the top of the pile but Daley Thompson thinks he needs to break world records first.
‘That’s a high-class problem to be discussing,’ said Coe.
‘It’s a wonderful debate. You’d be hard-pressed to say he wasn’t the most successful distance runner in terms of medals. But there are other things to throw in: world records, times, speeds.’
Farah will return to his home in Oregon and then decide whether to remain with Alberto Salazar, his coach who is the subject of a United States Anti-Doping Agency investigation into allegations he encouraged using drugs.
British Athletics’ Barry Fudge has taken over management of Farah’s training regime, with Salazar giving input via email. ‘It is good dialogue with Alberto and we get the job done,’ he said. ‘I asked Mo (when the Salazar allegations surfaced) what he wanted to do and he said, “We’ve got to do something special this summer. To hell with all this other stuff. How do I win two more titles?”
‘He’s at the top of his game right now and he can defend his Olympic titles in Rio.’ – Daily Mail