Sebastian Coe must run with the times if athletics is to avoid irrelevance | Sean Ingle

Sep 23, 2019

The IAAF president knows the next four years could make or break the sport as interest declines despite the presence of stars such as Mondo Duplantis, Noah Lyles and Dina Asher-Smith

Here is a challenge for anyone with 53 seconds to spare – Google “6.05m slow motion pole vault”. Then try to stop your jaw hitting the floor as the Swedish teenage athlete Mondo Duplantis soars skyward, jackknifes his body, dances his hands up the pole, and flips – just! – over a height greater than a double decker bus. The new super slow-motion footage of his feat at the 2018 European championships in Berlin has been seen 4.5 million times on Twitter in the three weeks alone. The twist in the tail for athletics is that many viewers haven’t the foggiest who Duplantis is.

Therein lies the essential threat to track and field with the world championships about to start on Friday in Doha. No one doubts the stars are out there. The heptathlete Nafissatou Thiam is the most exceptional female athlete in any sport. Noah Lyles is the most charismatic sprinter since Usain Bolt. Dina Asher-Smith is a British talent for the ages. But young people increasingly prefer to gaze at other constellations.

Tags: Athletics Dina Asher-Smith IAAF Sebastian Coe Sport