ATHLETICS
Related News
Sebastian Coe warns doping athletes of AIU’s ability to “ruthlessly weed out cheats”
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe speaks during a Press Conference at The World Athletics Half Marathon Championships Gdynia 2020. (Photo by Adam Nurkiewicz/Getty Images)
LAUSANNE, December 23, 2020 – World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has hailed the effectiveness of the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) and warned that track and field athletes who take banned drugs would be “fearlessly and ruthlessly weeded out” irrespective of reputation.
Christian Coleman, world 100m champion, is the most recent high profile name sanctioned by the independent organisation, which was established in 2017 to combat doping and help restore confidence in athletics.
The American was received a two-year ban in October for missing three drug tests in a 12-month period and is set to miss out on next year's postponed Olympics.
“The AIU was a centrepiece in the reforms and that’s exactly why I pushed for that independent, dispassionate organisation that could remove the decision making from any undue political interference,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. “I like to think that it has shown the athletes that we’re not respecters or fearful of reputation. Where there is an infraction we’re not fearful of sitting there going: ‘Oh well that’s quite a big name.’
“The AIU is not always going to be on everybody’s Christmas card list, nor should they be. But I do think that it has restored some confidence among the athletes that we’ve got an organisation out there that will fearlessly and ruthlessly weed out the cheats when and where they surface.”
Coe believes it will be harder than ever to cheat at the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games as athletics now did more intelligence-led testing than any other sport.
“Technology has improved, significantly even since 2012. Now, we’ve become much more sophisticated in the way testing takes place. It’s much more intelligence-led. And we’ve also got the AIU and that’s now 20-odd people with a good chunk of those people are sophisticated international investigators as well.
“I feel that I will be taking World Athletics as a federation to Tokyo with better systems in place than any other federation. I’m proud to be able to say that. And what I can say is if athletes do cheat there is a greater chance of them being caught in Tokyo than probably any previous Games.”
Christian Coleman, world 100m champion, is the most recent high profile name sanctioned by the independent organisation, which was established in 2017 to combat doping and help restore confidence in athletics.
The American was received a two-year ban in October for missing three drug tests in a 12-month period and is set to miss out on next year's postponed Olympics.
“The AIU was a centrepiece in the reforms and that’s exactly why I pushed for that independent, dispassionate organisation that could remove the decision making from any undue political interference,” he said in an interview with The Guardian. “I like to think that it has shown the athletes that we’re not respecters or fearful of reputation. Where there is an infraction we’re not fearful of sitting there going: ‘Oh well that’s quite a big name.’
“The AIU is not always going to be on everybody’s Christmas card list, nor should they be. But I do think that it has restored some confidence among the athletes that we’ve got an organisation out there that will fearlessly and ruthlessly weed out the cheats when and where they surface.”
Coe believes it will be harder than ever to cheat at the delayed Tokyo Olympic Games as athletics now did more intelligence-led testing than any other sport.
“Technology has improved, significantly even since 2012. Now, we’ve become much more sophisticated in the way testing takes place. It’s much more intelligence-led. And we’ve also got the AIU and that’s now 20-odd people with a good chunk of those people are sophisticated international investigators as well.
“I feel that I will be taking World Athletics as a federation to Tokyo with better systems in place than any other federation. I’m proud to be able to say that. And what I can say is if athletes do cheat there is a greater chance of them being caught in Tokyo than probably any previous Games.”
Video gallery
Let's Talk to the IOC Presidential Candidates
Let's Talk to IOC Presidential Candidate Lord Sebastian Coe
