Sebastian Coe penned a letter to the athletics community. In it, he recognised that while the athletics community is not physically together his instinct is that the pandemic will draw “us closer together, not further apart.”
“I am comforted in these intolerable circumstances, which are affecting every continent on the planet, of the creativity and resilience of people.
From my teams in Monaco who are completing their second week in isolation but still running the business, and our Member Federations in 214 countries who are trying, day by day and hour by hour, to figure out how to keep everything afloat, to our amazing athletes who are doing whatever they can to train in bedrooms and backyards while also finding time to produce inspirational and motivational videos and tutorials for adults and children who, like them are confined to their homes across the world…”
He mentions that the decision by the Japanese Government and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games have been postponed to 2021 was welcome.
Meanwhile, it is confirmed that the World Athletics Championships will be moved to 2022, the same year currently as the Commonwealth Games.
“It is what athletes want and we believe this decision will give all athletes, technical officials and volunteers some respite and certainty in these unprecedented and uncertain times,” he wrote.
He then added five bullet-pointed paragraphs that focus on the priorities that lie ahead.
The letter can be read here: https://cdn.revolutionise.com.au/cups/aa/files/pnhxnaandxb49eyg.pdf
