Sebastian Coe Backs Greater African Presence in Global Athletics Events
President of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, has reaffirmed Africa’s growing importance in global athletics while supporting calls for more major international competitions to be staged on the continent.
Speaking during the Confederation of African Athletics Council meeting in Accra, Coe praised the immense contribution African athletes have made to the sport over several decades, describing the continent as a vital pillar in athletics history.
“If you look at the history and the contribution that African athletes have made in the last 50 years, including in my career, my career was in large part defined by fantastic African athletes,” Coe said.
“Your future is strong and your history and your past is very strong. And that’s a very good platform to build on.”
The World Athletics boss also highlighted the governing body’s commitment to Africa, noting that the presence of all four vice presidents at the meeting demonstrated the continent’s strategic importance within the organization.
“And I know at World Athletics, and the very fact that all four vice presidents are here, Africa is a very, very important continent to us. We want more events here, and we want to give you the opportunity to build local knowledge and human capacity in taking these events forward,” he said.
Coe’s comments come amid renewed calls from African sports administrators for the continent to be granted hosting rights for the World Athletics Championships in the future.
Despite Africa’s rich athletics heritage and dominance in several disciplines, the continent has never hosted the championship since the competition was introduced four decades ago.
In recent years, however, African nations have staged a number of global athletics events, including the World Athletics U20 Championships, World Athletics Cross Country Championships, and the World Athletics Relays, signaling increasing confidence in the continent’s organizational capabilities.
