Every day, millions of people around the world wear sports shoes, go out and run. Rain or shine, there they are practicing athletics as a physical activity, noting the controversies of more than one of the 150 sports a day it offers at the Olympic Games. To organize this vast ecosystem – from asphalt to track, through parks and lawns -, World Athletics, the highest unit in international athletics, recently launched the Global Coversation Program, a worldwide survey that The next decade will define the strategies of the game. 2030.
In an exclusive interview with Olympic lookThe organization’s president, Britton Sebastian Coe, said the idea is to discuss the future of athletics based on global demands. “The global conversation effectively creates a roadmap for the growth and development of a sport over the next 10 years. Our sport is a complex ecosystem, everyone has different goals. We want to talk to athletes, but just Not for the elite. We want to talk. Media companies, along with partners with federations, carry out recreational activities “, he explains.
According to Coe, who was an Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters in 1980 and 1984, responses have indicated that athletics should play a more important role in the next decade. “This role can go beyond simple competition, and I think the sentiment is being expressed primarily during the last year and a half, when the epidemic has really hit our communities hard. It has led to the physical Has shown the importance of access to activity and athletics., Running, is the sport with the most practitioners in the world “.
“More than a billion people identify themselves as recreational runners. We have a great opportunity to sit down with governments at all levels to help with our own agendas and encourage sports,” the British leader continued Keep it.
One of the challenges for this is to bring the ecosystem closer to street racing, which in English is called “running” from the formal athletics system. “When we have companies interested in investing in sports, we should always encourage them. But we have to make sure that these events are safe and sound. I think our federations can help the organizers. I want cooperation. ” Non competition. I will always encourage the union and the organizers to talk. It is a solvable problem if everyone works together to improve the game ”, he assesses.
Sports legacy was not strong in Rio
The chairman of the London Olympic Games Organizing Committee, Sebastian Coe is an expert on Olympic heritage. The London Olympics was considered a breakthrough in this regard. Is it because the United Kingdom managed to continuously evolve in sports results – it won more medals in 2016 than in 2012 – or because the structures built for the Olympics in London became part of the city’s daily life. For example, the Olympic Stadium hosts a phase of the Diamond League every year, which actually celebrates the history of London 2012. In 2017, it hosted the Athletics World Cup.
Meanwhile, in Rio, Nilton Santos Stadium, which was home to athletics, did not compete in the sport again at the 2016 Olympics. And there are no plans to get you. When asked about the case, Coe said he believed Rio had not thought about it before the Olympics.
“I think it should be clear what heritage a city is looking for. The Games have made Athens a more modern city. The new airport, the new metro system, but the sports heritage was not so strong. In London. , We got the balance right. I think cities need to think clearly, define what heritage is. The city of Rio has undergone many changes in transportation, infrastructure, which is a strong legacy, but the game is really I did not have the city’s priority. The international federation had to tell the city what the heritage is. Only the city can do that. If you ask me if I want a sports heritage, of course I want it, but Sports heritage does not just happen. This legacy needs to be involved in planning work from the beginning, it needs to be very clear “, he argues.
In Rio’s case, this action plan was put together more than a decade ago and, as seen today, it failed to think of a more effective use of structures built or renovated for the Olympics. But would it not be for the current leaders to pick up lemons and make lemonade?
“The city should have an ambition to build a sports heritage, encourage more events. Have great athletics competitions, have a World Cup in South America at some point … Identifying these facilities is a must for local governments The role is. And the unions have. We have a much more interactive approach. We sit down with the unions to discuss the possibilities of construction within the city. That’s what we do, “Coe replied without asking if he had Rio has a concrete plan to use its Olympic heritage.
