2:00:00 > 2:00:00CAN SEB COE SAVE ATHLETICS? SPT K870B/01 BRD000000
0:20:53 > 0:20:56- NEWS REPORT:- Russian athletes have been accused of widespread cheating.
0:20:56 > 0:20:59..drug-test samples deliberately destroyed
0:20:59 > 0:21:01and coaches who were out of control.
0:21:01 > 0:21:04Well, the IAAF has been rocked by a corruption scandal
0:21:04 > 0:21:06implicating Lamine Diack.
0:21:06 > 0:21:08Athletics is under attack.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10Allegations of corruption,
0:21:10 > 0:21:14greed and drugs have left the sport at an all-time low.
0:21:16 > 0:21:19Today, athletics managed to plumb new depths.
0:21:19 > 0:21:23Horrible, awful news at the moment. And it is hard.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25It's really depressing and really sad to read.
0:21:25 > 0:21:27I feel devastated to think, you know,
0:21:27 > 0:21:30there's medals that I could have been awarded in my career.
0:21:34 > 0:21:36..the damning conclusion of a report today.
0:21:36 > 0:21:40It said the IAAF must have known about the scale of doping.
0:21:40 > 0:21:42Of course there was a cover-up.
0:21:42 > 0:21:45If you can't acknowledge it, you're never going to get past it.
0:21:45 > 0:21:48Were there any suspicions from you that this was going on?
0:21:48 > 0:21:51You and your council should have seen some of this coming.
0:21:51 > 0:21:53- Does that make your position untenable?- No.
0:21:53 > 0:21:57I think what is clear is that we needed to know more.
0:21:57 > 0:21:58We didn't know more.
0:21:58 > 0:22:01This is a pivotal moment, a crossroads.
0:22:02 > 0:22:03Can trust be restored?
0:22:03 > 0:22:06Do you trust the IAAF to protect your reputation?
0:22:06 > 0:22:09I trust myself. I don't know if I trust anyone else.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11How will the man known by many as a great Olympian,
0:22:11 > 0:22:14by more as Mr London 2012,
0:22:14 > 0:22:17lead the revival - the toughest challenge of his career?
0:22:17 > 0:22:21This role, as president of the IAAF, if you don't succeed,
0:22:21 > 0:22:23it will be the thing that defines you.
0:22:23 > 0:22:26Can Seb Coe save athletics?
0:22:38 > 0:22:42I sat in almost this very seat commentating on Mo Farah,
0:22:42 > 0:22:44as he broke my British 1,500-metre record.
0:22:44 > 0:22:47It was a great night, everything that we love about athletics.
0:22:47 > 0:22:50COMMENTATING: 'Absolutely unbelievable.'
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Full stadium, great atmosphere, athletes at the top of their game.
0:22:54 > 0:22:57At the very same time, the man who held the record before me,
0:22:57 > 0:23:00Sebastian Coe, was embarking on his campaign
0:23:00 > 0:23:02to become president of the IAAF.
0:23:02 > 0:23:04I don't think any of us knew
0:23:04 > 0:23:06what was going to happen in the ensuing months.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08The sport has been ripped apart
0:23:08 > 0:23:12and I've come here to Monaco to ask Seb how did we get in this mess
0:23:12 > 0:23:15and what's he going to do to get us out of it.
0:23:16 > 0:23:19'I've been given unprecedented access to spend some time with my
0:23:19 > 0:23:22'former rival on the track - one of the busiest men in world sport.
0:23:24 > 0:23:28'Since being elected IAAF president last August, Seb has found himself
0:23:28 > 0:23:30'under the microscope, like never before.'
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Why did you take on this job?
0:23:34 > 0:23:37Because I love athletics and I'm a runner.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39And, you know,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43I joined an athletics club when I was 11 and, in my 60th year,
0:23:43 > 0:23:48I had the opportunity to shape the sport, in the role as its president.
0:23:48 > 0:23:51Did you have any other options? 2012 went so well.
0:23:51 > 0:23:52Was there any thought that, maybe,
0:23:52 > 0:23:55"There's something else I could go and do?"
0:23:55 > 0:23:56There were a few other things
0:23:56 > 0:23:59that, sort of, came my way and I talked to people about,
0:23:59 > 0:24:02and some of them were really interesting,
0:24:02 > 0:24:04and, yes, some of them were exciting.
0:24:04 > 0:24:09But none of them had the core appeal of something I've been
0:24:09 > 0:24:12doing for 50-odd years
0:24:12 > 0:24:16and the opportunity, not for ever, but just to help shape
0:24:16 > 0:24:21something that I really do love and admire and owe everything to.
0:24:23 > 0:24:25- COMMENTATOR:- Sebastian Coe, back at his best,
0:24:25 > 0:24:29is the Olympic champion again. Cram gets the silver.
0:24:30 > 0:24:32I've obviously known Seb an awful long time,
0:24:32 > 0:24:35and I think I understood how he worked as an athlete,
0:24:35 > 0:24:39but I've never really seen him in operation away from the track.
0:24:39 > 0:24:42And I've also never been inside the IAAF offices,
0:24:42 > 0:24:47so I'm doubly interested to see what goes on behind those doors.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50So, this is the end of the building I've sort of plonked myself on.
0:24:50 > 0:24:55- Right. How often are you here? - Er, oh, a lot.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58Erm, a good half my time.
0:24:58 > 0:25:00- Do you?- So I'm a commuter.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02It's pretty busy at the moment,
0:25:02 > 0:25:04because, as you know, we've got our council.
0:25:04 > 0:25:07We've got three or four days of really intensive council meetings.
0:25:07 > 0:25:09- Executive board this afternoon. - Uh-huh.
0:25:09 > 0:25:11- And this is my... - CHUCKLES
0:25:11 > 0:25:14- ..my abode!- Your abode, yeah.- Yeah.
0:25:14 > 0:25:18And you yourself have sat on boards and councils and things,
0:25:18 > 0:25:22but, like, the president of the IAAF, it's a job, isn't it?
0:25:22 > 0:25:24Actually, it's an honorary post.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26We're all honorary members of the council.
0:25:26 > 0:25:28That, in itself, is a complication.
0:25:28 > 0:25:31That's why I'm looking at the role of the president,
0:25:31 > 0:25:33the role of the executive board, what the
0:25:33 > 0:25:35council really should be doing, who it's responsible to.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38These are all the things.
0:25:38 > 0:25:40Hey! My brother!
0:25:41 > 0:25:44During the previous regime... I don't think most people realise
0:25:44 > 0:25:50the depth of the issues, but what was your view?
0:25:50 > 0:25:54I probably thought that this was far more to do with people that
0:25:54 > 0:25:57just weren't making the right decisions,
0:25:57 > 0:25:59weren't really putting their foot on the throttle
0:25:59 > 0:26:04and being brave with, you know, the changes that needed to be made.
0:26:05 > 0:26:09Nobody was sitting there thinking that, you know,
0:26:09 > 0:26:15at the heart of the problem lay things that, you know,
0:26:15 > 0:26:18were way, way beyond the moral boundaries.
0:26:18 > 0:26:21Were you aware, at any stage, at any level,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24of some of the issues that have now come to light?
0:26:24 > 0:26:26No. I mean, the sport - you know, any sport -
0:26:26 > 0:26:29is awash with rumours all the time.
0:26:29 > 0:26:34You know, I've often been asked this question about Russian doping.
0:26:34 > 0:26:39Well, you know, for 30 or 40 years, of course, we've lived
0:26:39 > 0:26:44in a world of rumour around doping in Russia, in the United States.
0:26:44 > 0:26:47You are I are sort of old enough to remember the Eastern Bloc.
0:26:47 > 0:26:52And actually, those questions were asked on occasion at the council.
0:26:52 > 0:26:54You know, the walls were just too high.
0:26:54 > 0:26:58And we do need a council, we do need people like me
0:26:58 > 0:27:01in roles as president, where you can be challenged
0:27:01 > 0:27:03and, frankly, called to account.
0:27:03 > 0:27:06Why weren't they challenged, do you think? Was it the process?
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Were they not able to? Did council not do its job properly?
0:27:10 > 0:27:13No, I don't think it's any one thing.
0:27:13 > 0:27:18I think it is that, actually, if you look at our ability to
0:27:18 > 0:27:22get into those issues, it wasn't there for the council.
0:27:22 > 0:27:28And also, Steve, remember, at a time when the rumours were swirling,
0:27:28 > 0:27:31the documentaries were appearing, you know,
0:27:31 > 0:27:36we did have an ethics-board review into all that.
0:27:36 > 0:27:40We then subsequently had two big pieces of work going on that
0:27:40 > 0:27:44culminated in the independent commission report from Wada.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47There is also a police investigation going on.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51So, I guess the question that many of us
0:27:51 > 0:27:55have asked ourselves, that were in the council at the time - was
0:27:55 > 0:28:00there a way of inserting ourselves into that independent process
0:28:00 > 0:28:02that was going on all around us?
0:28:02 > 0:28:05I will say this, the last couple of council meetings that I've chaired,
0:28:05 > 0:28:10there was a level of interrogation and a level of interest
0:28:10 > 0:28:15and question and debate that I have never witnessed in a council,
0:28:15 > 0:28:17and I've been there since 2003.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19So, we're moving in the right direction.
0:28:19 > 0:28:21But there's a lot more things to put in place.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25The issue, I think, for those of us who are at athletic meetings
0:28:25 > 0:28:28and sit in the bars afterwards - the athletes and the managers
0:28:28 > 0:28:32- and agents and the media people - we don't see those debates.- No.
0:28:32 > 0:28:34And we've never seen them.
0:28:34 > 0:28:37And all we've ever seen is the result, if you like,
0:28:37 > 0:28:40of a badly run organisation, particularly the last few years.
0:28:40 > 0:28:44So how do you ensure that people have faith in that process, still?
0:28:44 > 0:28:47You've just articulated my biggest challenge.
0:28:48 > 0:28:50And that is...
0:28:50 > 0:28:55I can - and will - make the changes, but it's not like a slot machine.
0:28:55 > 0:28:56I can make those changes,
0:28:56 > 0:29:00I can put the, you know, whatever it is in place,
0:29:00 > 0:29:02but the tray underneath
0:29:02 > 0:29:06isn't going to suddenly start throwing out trust.
0:29:06 > 0:29:10With former president Lamine Diack under investigation by French
0:29:10 > 0:29:12authorities for alleged corruption,
0:29:12 > 0:29:15regaining that trust seems to be top of the agenda for Seb,
0:29:15 > 0:29:19and it's a message echoed by other prominent council members.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23What happened in the past, it's not what he did.
0:29:23 > 0:29:26I mean, I think that is what the athletes did
0:29:26 > 0:29:28and what our leaders did before.
0:29:28 > 0:29:30I mean, I think this is now a time to say that,
0:29:30 > 0:29:33"Hey, Seb, we're giving you a clean slate.
0:29:33 > 0:29:36"You should not concentrate so much on the office," and I think we are
0:29:36 > 0:29:39busy with that process, to get a CEO that can run the office,
0:29:39 > 0:29:44so that Seb can go out and look out and work with the people,
0:29:44 > 0:29:46with the member federations that have elected him
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and make sure that he can answer all the questions there,
0:29:49 > 0:29:52because I think we cannot get a better leader at this stage in
0:29:52 > 0:29:56time to take our sport out of this critical situation that we're in.
0:29:56 > 0:29:57This is about culture change.
0:29:57 > 0:29:58That's what this is about.
0:29:58 > 0:29:59And he's talked about this
0:29:59 > 0:30:01from the time he started
0:30:01 > 0:30:02running for the seat.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04And so having a leader who understands
0:30:04 > 0:30:08the need for culture change and then actually now putting
0:30:08 > 0:30:12that into action I think is a great first start for the IAAF.
0:30:12 > 0:30:16He was really always a tough competitor, and...know he is
0:30:16 > 0:30:22a tough leader and should really use the best of himself to go out
0:30:22 > 0:30:26there and help us to restore the credibility in athletics.
0:30:26 > 0:30:31'The ongoing battle with drugs is a key area for the IAAF, and Seb
0:30:31 > 0:30:35'and his council voted 22 to 1 in favour of banning Russia
0:30:35 > 0:30:38'from international competition back in November,
0:30:38 > 0:30:42'after alleged involvement in state-sponsored doping.
0:30:42 > 0:30:46'That and other governance issues have been on the table in Monaco.'
0:30:46 > 0:30:48Well, after two days of meetings,
0:30:48 > 0:30:51it's now time for Seb to face the international press,
0:30:51 > 0:30:53and I think it's fair to say there's a certain amount
0:30:53 > 0:30:57of anticipation in the room as to what exactly he's going to say.
0:31:00 > 0:31:04Our review by anti-doping teams has identified five countries
0:31:04 > 0:31:11who the council have agreed are in critical care at different degrees.
0:31:11 > 0:31:13They are Ethiopia and Morocco,
0:31:13 > 0:31:17both of which need to implement as a matter of urgency a robust
0:31:17 > 0:31:20and adequate national testing programme
0:31:20 > 0:31:23both in and out of competition.
0:31:23 > 0:31:25Kenya, Ukraine and Belarus
0:31:25 > 0:31:29have been put on an IAAF monitoring list for 2016 to
0:31:29 > 0:31:33ensure their national anti-doping programmes are significantly
0:31:33 > 0:31:36strengthened and their journey to compliance
0:31:36 > 0:31:39completed by the end of this year.
0:31:39 > 0:31:42The council unanimously agreed that the Russian
0:31:42 > 0:31:46authorities need to undertake further significant work to
0:31:46 > 0:31:50satisfy the reinstatement conditions, so RusAth should
0:31:50 > 0:31:56not be reinstated to membership of the IAAF at this stage.
0:31:56 > 0:31:59Obviously, systemic doping is one of the biggest issues that you
0:31:59 > 0:32:01and the sport face.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04Is it those tough decisions - the sanctions, the banning -
0:32:04 > 0:32:07is that the only way to bring people to the table?
0:32:07 > 0:32:10It's not the only way to bring people to the table,
0:32:10 > 0:32:11but you do need to work...
0:32:11 > 0:32:16You know, I am a great believer that it is far better to work with
0:32:16 > 0:32:20people, recognising, you know, challenges,
0:32:20 > 0:32:24recognising, you know, serious, serious situations
0:32:24 > 0:32:27and trying to remedy them together than sort of saying,
0:32:27 > 0:32:31"Right, the first instinct is to ban and kick out and isolate."
0:32:31 > 0:32:33That's not the way the world works, it's not the way our families
0:32:33 > 0:32:35work, it's not the way our organisations work.
0:32:35 > 0:32:40As and when you get to real break points,
0:32:40 > 0:32:47where there is just a resistance or just a real internal blockage,
0:32:47 > 0:32:52then, yes, you have to be very, very tough, and I don't think...
0:32:52 > 0:32:54This is non-negotiable now.
0:32:54 > 0:32:58The perception perhaps in the past from many would be that the
0:32:58 > 0:33:01IAAF, although on the face of it seemingly robust on drug
0:33:01 > 0:33:06testing, but on the other side, trying to protect their sport,
0:33:06 > 0:33:10perhaps shielding it from negative publicity.
0:33:10 > 0:33:13How can you assure people that that is not the case?
0:33:13 > 0:33:16I think the IAAF has been far,
0:33:16 > 0:33:21far more proactive than it has been protective. You know?
0:33:21 > 0:33:25And you know as well as I do that if you don't go fishing,
0:33:25 > 0:33:27you don't catch fish,
0:33:27 > 0:33:31and there are many sports that have taken that attitude.
0:33:31 > 0:33:32The IAAF hasn't, actually.
0:33:32 > 0:33:37A few people infiltrated a system and caused us...
0:33:38 > 0:33:44..irreparable damage. There's no point in even pretending otherwise.
0:33:44 > 0:33:49But actually, if you look at all the key advances that have been
0:33:49 > 0:33:52made in sport around anti-doping,
0:33:52 > 0:33:56they've more than often been driven by my sport -
0:33:56 > 0:34:00the athlete biological passport, the out-of-competition random testing.
0:34:00 > 0:34:05So actually, we've paid a very high price for what has been
0:34:05 > 0:34:07revealed in the last few years,
0:34:07 > 0:34:13but actually, our systems have shown to be pretty robust.
0:34:13 > 0:34:15I think there is a twin challenge here, as well.
0:34:15 > 0:34:18If we don't get the trust of the athletes back, if we haven't got
0:34:18 > 0:34:21the families and we haven't got the parents that are feeling
0:34:21 > 0:34:23comfortable that this is a sport that they're going to devote
0:34:23 > 0:34:28time and energy and affection to, then we might as well all go home.
0:34:34 > 0:34:36It's very clear that Seb is more than
0:34:36 > 0:34:39aware of the size of the task, and he's very bullish about it.
0:34:39 > 0:34:40But six months in,
0:34:40 > 0:34:43the second time he's had the chance to sit with his full council,
0:34:43 > 0:34:47he more than anyone is very aware that words are fine
0:34:47 > 0:34:50but they have to be seen to be taking action now.
0:34:52 > 0:34:57How close were you to thinking of drawing a line under this
0:34:57 > 0:34:58and maybe saying to Russia,
0:34:58 > 0:35:01"You're not going to be back in time for the Rio Olympics"?
0:35:01 > 0:35:03My job is not actually to get as many athletes to the
0:35:03 > 0:35:05Olympic Games as possible.
0:35:05 > 0:35:08The job of the council is to make sure that those athletes
0:35:08 > 0:35:10that are going to the Olympic Games are clean
0:35:10 > 0:35:13and in systems that are based on integrity.
0:35:16 > 0:35:20'It is needed to be reformed. I think it's needed to be clean.'
0:35:20 > 0:35:22So no-one really is arguing about it.
0:35:22 > 0:35:27And I think it's also in the interest of Russia, as well.
0:35:27 > 0:35:32It's just the way how it will be reformed
0:35:32 > 0:35:35and if these reforms will be fair
0:35:35 > 0:35:37and transparent for everyone.
0:35:37 > 0:35:39But definitely, I mean,
0:35:39 > 0:35:42no-one is now arguing or trying to block these reforms.
0:35:42 > 0:35:46I think the sport is going to have to go through a very hard
0:35:46 > 0:35:48time for, you know, perhaps
0:35:48 > 0:35:49three, four, five years of just,
0:35:49 > 0:35:50you know, banning athletes
0:35:50 > 0:35:52when they fail drugs tests,
0:35:52 > 0:35:53being really aggressive,
0:35:53 > 0:35:55which I don't think we've had in the past.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58Sometimes we've played round the edges, had crackdowns and
0:35:58 > 0:36:01there's been a spate of athletes tested positive and banned
0:36:01 > 0:36:04and then everything kind of settles down and goes back to normal.
0:36:04 > 0:36:07The most important thing now is to find the solution,
0:36:07 > 0:36:11to set up everything for doping, to stop the bad attitude
0:36:11 > 0:36:15and also to make a kind of biological
0:36:15 > 0:36:19passport for the official, the doctors and the coaches,
0:36:19 > 0:36:21because not only the athlete.
0:36:21 > 0:36:23- So, how do you think that went? - The whole day? Yeah, good.
0:36:23 > 0:36:26- I mean more the press conference. - I think that was good.
0:36:26 > 0:36:30- I don't think there was anything there that I wasn't expecting.- Yeah.
0:36:30 > 0:36:33I think there's now much more of a focus on the future,
0:36:33 > 0:36:36and actually, we've got through a mountain of reform.
0:36:36 > 0:36:37I mean, in one day, Steve,
0:36:37 > 0:36:41we have - I don't think I'm overstating this - I think
0:36:41 > 0:36:43we've completely transformed the way
0:36:43 > 0:36:47we will be operating in the next, you know, in the next year.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51Inevitably, the focus today is going to be on Russia
0:36:51 > 0:36:53and, you know, the five countries we've identified,
0:36:53 > 0:36:58but the transformation today was extraordinary.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01The point I would make is, yes, we've been firefighting,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04but actually, we've been doing a mountain of other
0:37:04 > 0:37:07- things in the background that will come to fruition.- Good.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09- I know you've got more interviews. - We've got to go.
0:37:09 > 0:37:12- We're really late.- See you in a bit. See you later.
0:37:16 > 0:37:18'It's been one thing introducing reforms within the IAAF,
0:37:18 > 0:37:23'restructuring to a more modern business model, but while doing this
0:37:23 > 0:37:25'Seb has also had to face a number of questions
0:37:25 > 0:37:26'about his own integrity.'
0:37:28 > 0:37:32Lord Coe is facing fresh allegations of a conflict of interest
0:37:32 > 0:37:35over his role as an international advisor for Nike.
0:37:35 > 0:37:39I have stepped down from my ambassadorial role with Nike,
0:37:39 > 0:37:42which dates back 38 years.
0:37:43 > 0:37:47The current noise level around this ambassadorial role is not good
0:37:47 > 0:37:52for the IAAF and it is not good for Nike.
0:37:52 > 0:37:55The first few months since you've been elected,
0:37:55 > 0:37:58it's been a bumpy ride, it's been a difficult period.
0:37:58 > 0:38:00And part of that has been because it's you.
0:38:00 > 0:38:04There were scenarios which, erm, I don't know whether you think
0:38:04 > 0:38:05could have been handled better.
0:38:05 > 0:38:08You know, the Nike situation would be one, for example.
0:38:08 > 0:38:11- Yeah.- Were you ready for that level of scrutiny?
0:38:11 > 0:38:16Yes, because I've lived in that world for any number of years.
0:38:16 > 0:38:19I mean, anybody that lived through the...
0:38:19 > 0:38:24you know, the 2003, 2005 bid journey, then the 2005,
0:38:24 > 0:38:292012 delivery of the Games journey, that was intense scrutiny,
0:38:29 > 0:38:32and then as an athlete and then as a Member of Parliament
0:38:32 > 0:38:34and as a chief of staff in a political party.
0:38:34 > 0:38:37Now, that's the world I've lived in.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41Yes, looking back, there are some things that, you know,
0:38:41 > 0:38:44given the intensity of the interest, given the...
0:38:44 > 0:38:46You know, you mention Nike.
0:38:46 > 0:38:50You know, I'd gone basically ten years in a very high-profile
0:38:50 > 0:38:53role chairing the London Games.
0:38:53 > 0:38:58The Nike question was never actually asked in, technically,
0:38:58 > 0:39:01a much higher-profile situation than...
0:39:01 > 0:39:03Should it have been?
0:39:03 > 0:39:04Well...
0:39:04 > 0:39:06probably not,
0:39:06 > 0:39:10because there was never any question that there would be any impropriety.
0:39:12 > 0:39:16- COMMENTATOR:- Sebastian Coe, back at his best,
0:39:16 > 0:39:17is the Olympic champion again.
0:39:17 > 0:39:21In 1984, when you crossed the line ahead of me at the Olympics,
0:39:21 > 0:39:24the first thing you did was you turned to the tribune
0:39:24 > 0:39:28and sort of aimed your gaze at where the British media were sitting
0:39:28 > 0:39:30in a pretty defiant gesture towards them,
0:39:30 > 0:39:33which I think summed up your frustration with the way
0:39:33 > 0:39:36they'd dealt with you leading up to those Olympics.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39- Do you see any parallels with that situation now?- That was
0:39:39 > 0:39:41a very specific moment in my life.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44You know, I'd had a really difficult year and a half.
0:39:44 > 0:39:47I was probably rebelling more about things that were being written about
0:39:47 > 0:39:51my family at the time, because, you know, we sort of battle on,
0:39:51 > 0:39:54we never really think much about, you know, behind the headlines,
0:39:54 > 0:39:57we've got friends and family and loved ones that are sitting
0:39:57 > 0:39:59there going, "That looks a bit unfair."
0:39:59 > 0:40:03And I suppose that's probably been the toughest thing in the
0:40:03 > 0:40:06last few months, watching friends and family react,
0:40:06 > 0:40:09just sort of waking up to some of this stuff most mornings.
0:40:12 > 0:40:16He has been, of course, attacked from every angle, nearly,
0:40:16 > 0:40:20and this has made it very, very difficult for him.
0:40:20 > 0:40:24'He has the guts to go out there and do things.'
0:40:24 > 0:40:26I have told him, "Go out and be yourself
0:40:26 > 0:40:30"and be that Sebastian Coe that I knew as a runner."
0:40:30 > 0:40:32Everyone's saying, "We are behind this man, he's our leader
0:40:32 > 0:40:34"and he'll lead us to better pastures."
0:40:34 > 0:40:37I think that's absolutely right. Will he, as one man,
0:40:37 > 0:40:39or this council, as 27 people,
0:40:39 > 0:40:41be able to ensure that every person
0:40:41 > 0:40:43always follows the rules? No,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45because it's a big world and you can't follow everybody.
0:40:45 > 0:40:47But they're on the right path,
0:40:47 > 0:40:49and I absolutely believe people are 100% behind him.
0:40:53 > 0:40:56'So it's clear Seb's colleagues and peers are behind him.
0:40:56 > 0:40:59'But what about the athletes?'
0:40:59 > 0:41:02Tonight is training night at the stadium for the local
0:41:02 > 0:41:05athletics club, and I know one of the parents who lives here
0:41:05 > 0:41:06pretty well!
0:41:10 > 0:41:12Fancy seeing you here(!)
0:41:12 > 0:41:14Hiya. You all right? Good to see you.
0:41:14 > 0:41:18That's not a bad place, is it, for Isla to be training?
0:41:18 > 0:41:20See, I had Jarrow and you had Bedford. She gets Monaco!
0:41:20 > 0:41:24I know, but it's essentially the same thing, isn't it?
0:41:24 > 0:41:27A track and sandpit and just having fun with athletics.
0:41:27 > 0:41:32You've sat on the Athletes' Commission for a good few years now.
0:41:32 > 0:41:35- Yeah.- You've now become the vice-chair a couple of weeks ago.
0:41:35 > 0:41:37What is your view of the last couple of years?
0:41:37 > 0:41:39You must have been dismayed by everything,
0:41:39 > 0:41:41like everybody else has been.
0:41:41 > 0:41:42Yeah, I think dismayed,
0:41:42 > 0:41:47angry and frustrated at what, kind of, was allowed to happen
0:41:47 > 0:41:51to our sport and the damage that was done to it by the people who
0:41:51 > 0:41:54were entrusted with it and in charge at the top
0:41:54 > 0:41:57and who were allowed to get away with that for too long.
0:41:57 > 0:42:01And I think that the IAAF has to take
0:42:01 > 0:42:05accountability for the fact that the way it was set up was
0:42:05 > 0:42:07too amateur, was not professional enough.
0:42:07 > 0:42:10There's an issue of trust there, isn't there? Athletes have to think,
0:42:10 > 0:42:13"If I've got something to say,
0:42:13 > 0:42:17"I've got a federation who don't look as though they've been
0:42:17 > 0:42:21"doing their job properly for the last period of time,
0:42:21 > 0:42:22"or I could go, for instance,
0:42:22 > 0:42:26"to a newspaper or a television programme, who might listen to me."
0:42:26 > 0:42:30That's an issue, still, isn't it? That's something that Seb, I guess,
0:42:30 > 0:42:32- has got to grapple with. - Yeah, it's a big issue.
0:42:32 > 0:42:36And I think that's why athletes have to feel that there's
0:42:36 > 0:42:40a pathway that they can come through where they will be listened to
0:42:40 > 0:42:41right at the very top,
0:42:41 > 0:42:44and the people within the federation have to listen to that,
0:42:44 > 0:42:47have to open their doors and say, "OK, come through,"
0:42:47 > 0:42:50otherwise athletes will get frustrated and go to the media.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53The most important thing is that we listen to the views of the athletes.
0:42:53 > 0:42:57What sport will your daughter, perhaps, and these other kids here,
0:42:57 > 0:42:59will there be a sport for them in ten years' time,
0:42:59 > 0:43:02and what do you think it might look like? Or what should it look like?
0:43:02 > 0:43:06Erm, it should look like a sport where these kids here know
0:43:06 > 0:43:10and see that if they work hard and they've got some talent
0:43:10 > 0:43:13and they put that work in, then they're going to find out how
0:43:13 > 0:43:16good they can be on a level playing field.
0:43:19 > 0:43:21In four years' time,
0:43:21 > 0:43:27I want to be able to say that we look entirely different,
0:43:27 > 0:43:30we go about our business in a completely different way
0:43:30 > 0:43:35and we've gone a long way down the road to bringing trust back
0:43:35 > 0:43:39to everybody that wants to be involved in us
0:43:39 > 0:43:41and particularly young people who think,
0:43:41 > 0:43:44"Hm, this looks like something I want to be involved in."
0:43:44 > 0:43:48You've talked a lot about the future of the sport and your sponsors
0:43:48 > 0:43:52and people coming to watch and young kids being inspired,
0:43:52 > 0:43:55and they do that because of the stars.
0:43:55 > 0:43:59But Usain Bolt, you know, Mo Farah, Jess Ennis in the UK,
0:43:59 > 0:44:03they're not going to be there forever. What happens when they go?
0:44:03 > 0:44:06We've got to find as many Usain Bolts as we can,
0:44:06 > 0:44:07and it's not a conveyor belt.
0:44:07 > 0:44:10We could be having this conversation in an American bar amongst
0:44:10 > 0:44:13boxing writers in the Seventies and saying,
0:44:13 > 0:44:15"What on earth's going to happen when Ali goes?"
0:44:15 > 0:44:18Well, you know, after Ali there's Hagler, there's Hearns,
0:44:18 > 0:44:22there's Sugar Ray Leonard. You know, they do come through.
0:44:22 > 0:44:24But, no, Bolt is a genius.
0:44:24 > 0:44:28What we have to do within the IAAF is to make sure that people
0:44:28 > 0:44:33know as much and are as excited by the David Rudishas
0:44:33 > 0:44:36and the Valerie Adams and people like that that come through
0:44:36 > 0:44:38and are extraordinary athletes.
0:44:38 > 0:44:41And that isn't going to be easy.
0:44:41 > 0:44:44There isn't enough athletics. That's the problem.
0:44:44 > 0:44:47We kid ourselves, but there isn't enough athletics.
0:44:47 > 0:44:51You know, we go from September through to May, where,
0:44:51 > 0:44:54frankly, there's not a lot to be talking about or writing about.
0:44:54 > 0:44:55We've got to remedy that.
0:44:55 > 0:44:58We've got to look at how we can extend the season, probably into
0:44:58 > 0:45:03climates where you can compete, and we've got to develop those markets.
0:45:03 > 0:45:07We've got to make sure that the athletes go head-to-head much
0:45:07 > 0:45:08more often than they do.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10You know, when you have agents
0:45:10 > 0:45:14and managers at the beginning of the season saying, "Oh, well,
0:45:14 > 0:45:16"you know, our guy's just going to have a quiet year this year..."
0:45:16 > 0:45:20It's a bit like, you know, selling season tickets in Barcelona
0:45:20 > 0:45:21and suddenly saying,
0:45:21 > 0:45:24"Well, Messi may only play one in every three or four games."
0:45:24 > 0:45:26You don't do that.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Seb's philosophy, then, is more athletics,
0:45:28 > 0:45:31more head-to-heads, extending the season, expanding, where we
0:45:31 > 0:45:35take the sport worldwide, and better promotion of the biggest names.
0:45:35 > 0:45:39These are all valid ideas, but making them happen won't be easy,
0:45:39 > 0:45:43because, as a sport, it's rare that we all agree with each other.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47You've got to go back to the basics! Why did you come into the sport?
0:45:47 > 0:45:49Because I was no good at anything else.
0:45:49 > 0:45:52- That's not the right answer, Steve. - Why has the popularity gone?
0:45:52 > 0:45:54There have to be root causes.
0:45:54 > 0:45:57Maybe we're all a bit too close to it.
0:45:57 > 0:46:00I think it has got a bit boring for a lot of young people.
0:46:00 > 0:46:04Has what we're really watching changed dramatically since,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08you know, we were competing? Yeah, in little ways, but...
0:46:08 > 0:46:11You know, people were prepared back in 1983 to sit through nine
0:46:11 > 0:46:15and ten days of a World Championship and, you know, be able to...
0:46:15 > 0:46:18They're not going to do that now. We just have to be realistic about it.
0:46:18 > 0:46:22Will we have a World Championship format that is shorter?
0:46:22 > 0:46:26No, not straight away. Will we have that in five years? We have to.
0:46:26 > 0:46:29There are going to be countries going, "Yeah, but
0:46:29 > 0:46:31"we want to come and we might only have guys in the heats,"
0:46:31 > 0:46:33and there are going to be people saying,
0:46:33 > 0:46:36"I don't want just three jumps in the triple jump."
0:46:36 > 0:46:39It's not about jettisoning our philosophy.
0:46:39 > 0:46:44This is now about survival and doing some really radical things.
0:46:44 > 0:46:45And, actually,
0:46:45 > 0:46:49I have to put to the back of my mind the thought that that's almost
0:46:49 > 0:46:53certainly in some areas and, maybe, for a period,
0:46:53 > 0:46:57in large parts of the sport, an unpopular thing to do.
0:46:57 > 0:46:59- But...- You're prepared to do the unpopular things.
0:46:59 > 0:47:02Yeah, because, actually, I'm not sitting here
0:47:02 > 0:47:04thinking that this is
0:47:04 > 0:47:08a ten or a 15 or a 20-year project, Steve. It's not.
0:47:08 > 0:47:09You have to make so many changes,
0:47:09 > 0:47:14because there's become such a big distance between the athletes
0:47:14 > 0:47:17and the federation and the governing body, and it's like it's
0:47:17 > 0:47:21become two bodies that are fighting against each other,
0:47:21 > 0:47:23and we need to close that and actually get them working together.
0:47:23 > 0:47:27And so the federation has to come right forward
0:47:27 > 0:47:30into this century and be run as a business
0:47:30 > 0:47:33and be properly accountable for that, but properly feed back
0:47:33 > 0:47:36and get that interaction and communication flowing both ways.
0:47:36 > 0:47:40Yeah, we've got these groups now, youth engagement and social media.
0:47:40 > 0:47:46I've got guys from Google, you know, and YouTube on these groups
0:47:46 > 0:47:50really driving some of the technologies into what we do.
0:47:50 > 0:47:52We've been really bad at that.
0:47:52 > 0:47:53We've been REALLY bad at that.
0:47:53 > 0:47:57If you look at what football has done, the way tennis has done this,
0:47:57 > 0:48:00if you look at the American sports, the NBA, NFL,
0:48:00 > 0:48:05they've all got great social-media platforms interactive.
0:48:05 > 0:48:08We're only scratching the surface of that in our sport.
0:48:08 > 0:48:13Big changes, radical reforms. We've talked... We all do.
0:48:13 > 0:48:16We go, "Oh, yeah, we should do this and that," and nothing ever happens.
0:48:16 > 0:48:19Can our sport survive, going forward?
0:48:19 > 0:48:22When we get it right and when we do really throw up extraordinary,
0:48:22 > 0:48:26exciting, you know, athletes and big moments,
0:48:26 > 0:48:28we can play at the top of our game.
0:48:28 > 0:48:31We will make the changes and, yeah,
0:48:31 > 0:48:35some of that is not going to be perfect,
0:48:35 > 0:48:41but I can tell you, by November of this year, given where we
0:48:41 > 0:48:46were in November of 2015, things will look very, very different.
0:48:49 > 0:48:52'It's been an enlightening few days.'
0:48:52 > 0:48:55Spending time with Seb and behind the scenes at the IAAF,
0:48:55 > 0:48:58I've realised that he is exactly what I expected -
0:48:58 > 0:49:00he's driven, he's passionate,
0:49:00 > 0:49:01he's confident in his ability
0:49:01 > 0:49:03to deliver in this role.
0:49:03 > 0:49:06Can he save athletics? Well, that's a question still to be answered.
0:49:06 > 0:49:09One thing is clear, though. He cannot do it all on his own.
0:49:09 > 0:49:13We've heard a lot about integrity, about trust, about reform, but it is
0:49:13 > 0:49:16about action, as well, and he's got to take people with him.
0:49:16 > 0:49:20And he seems, finally, to be getting the council, the executive board,
0:49:20 > 0:49:23the new team he wants to put in place, even the international
0:49:23 > 0:49:27media, supporting him in this quest to reform athletics.
0:49:27 > 0:49:31And I think the best that we can do is to allow him to get on with it,
0:49:31 > 0:49:34to trust him and hope that he does the job right.