Sebastian Coe, a two-time Olympic middle-distance champion now running for president of track and field's governing body, believes the sport is facing a conundrum. While he, like many, remain grateful for the popularity Usain Bolt has brought the sport, the 58-year-old now believes track and field must grow beyond him.
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"One of the challenges we have is to show that we have athletes other than Usain Bolt and I'm a big fan of Usain Bolt," Coe said in an interview with the Associated Press (via Indiatimes). "We have great athletes and we have to really shine a light on them, so our sport is not just about Usain Bolt."
That, however, is easier said than done, something Coe acknowledges.
"That's a bit like going to the boxing community in the '60s and '70s and saying boxing is not just about Muhammad Ali because Usain Bolt is in that category."
There are other issues plaguing track and field, well beyond which athlete to brand as the new face of the sport. Scandals in Kenya, Russia and the scrutiny of Jamaica's testing program after the 2012 olympics has brought drug abuse to the forefront of track and field.
Stressing the $2 million spent on anti-doping on an annual basis, Coe believes the proper testing mechanisms are in place to solidify the reputations of his athletes.
"No sport has done more to challenge drug abuse," he said. "We test more than any other sport. Our top athletes are tested more regularly than any other sportsman or woman on the planet and it's the wrong conclusion to draw that any of these federations are in test-free zones."
"I would rather have the short-term embarrassment of a spike in positives because the testing systems are working."
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