At 57, Sebastian Coe does not yet say the word retirement. Or, only with a very conditional future. The former boss of the London Games spends much of his time in his office in the Southside Tower, in the Westminster district, where he has headed the CSM agency, specializing in sports marketing, since the start of last year. , advertising and communication. An office where he answered questions from our colleague Philippe Vande Weyer, in charge of athletics and Olympic issues for the daily Le Soir in Brussels.
In this long and fascinating interview, Sebastian Coe is careful not to completely lift the veil on his personal ambitions. Certainly, he radically rejects the idea of running to succeed Boris Johnson as mayor of London. But he did not openly declare himself a candidate for the presidency of the IAAF in August 2015, when Lamine Diack handed over the keys to the house. “If I take on new and important responsibilities, it will only be in the direction of athletics,” he says. Before continuing: “If I can help my sport, I will be happy to do so. » Not a candidate, then, but almost.
For the rest, Sebastian Coe talks about athletics. In depth. With, behind the speech, the barely disguised desire to exert all its weight to make it evolve towards greater modernity. Referring to his role as vice-president of the IAAF, the former miler English explains: “We know that we are faced with the enormous challenge of interesting young people, and we have radically expanded our communication budget towards digital and social media to reach out to them. » He also suggests making athletics more attractive to new generations: “We have to be more creative. For example, I saw school competitions where children were asked to choose five out of eight events. This way we keep them moving. »
Sebastian Coe also speaks like an IAAF presidential candidate when discussing Doha's bid for the 2019 outdoor world championships. He rejects the idea of holding the event in Qatar in summer. But widely opens the door to a success for the Gulf state against Barcelona and Eugene, by adjusting the calendar for this: “We cannot say on the one hand that we need more countries to develop the athletics if, at the first obstacle, we backtrack. Sport, as a whole, is going to have to have a new conversation. »
Finally, Sebastian Coe looks at the stadium problem. He suggests carrying out an audit of all enclosures with an athletics track that are in danger. “We have to fight, be tough,” he said. The Englishman claims to have discussed the problem with Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini. “We need to make sure we stay at the forefront of the fight. » Real campaign words.
