Sebastian Coe wants the current generation of athletes to finally take down world records from the 1980s which he concedes “may not be the safest on the book”.
The issue has become a major talking point in Eugene after Shericka Jackson ran a stunning 21.45sec to win world 200m gold, a time that put her second on the all-time list behind Florence Griffith Joyner. The controversial American, who also broke the 100m record in an era when drugs testing was sporadic, died in 1998.
A number of other records in women’s sport have remained untouched since the 80s including the 400m, 800m, high jump, long jump, discus and shot put. They were all set by athletes from countries in the then eastern bloc.
“Legally, they are the existing records,” said the World Athletics president. “Legally, there’s nothing you can do or say beyond the evidence of a positive test. But this was my era so I have to accept it was a time when testing was a bit sporadic. We know it was a different era. There are records there that you look at and go, there’s nothing legally we can do about them but they may not be the safest records on the book.”
Lord Coe said it was impossible to strike the old records, but suggested the advent of super spikes and faster tracks could see more of them broken in the coming years. “I would prefer that there is an organic change through the Shericka Jacksons, who are now being tested regularly,” he added. “We have the Athletics Integrity Unit, we have their own national anti-doping agency that is now working far better than it was when I came into office, you’ve got agencies around the world.”
Asked to compare the modern era with the 80s, Coe added: “It’s a different world. I was part of that world so I’m not saying I was significantly different to anyone else there – well, I wasn’t a cheat. But the reality is there is very little legally you can do and I think we have to be realistic about it.
“There’s nothing that I’m in a position to do to rewrite the record books but I’m open about it – some of these records are not safe records.”
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However, Coe, who himself set an 800m world record in 1981 that remained unbroken until 1997, admitted he felt some sympathy for those stuck behind the iron curtain who were forced to dope by their governments. “When you look at athletes that had to come through that system, you have more sympathy than you do for the athletes who chose, of their own volition in liberal democracies, to do it,” the double Olympic champion added.
