World Athletics president Lord Coe comfortable with Olympics Saudi bid

Lord Coe sat down with ITV Sports Editor Steve Scott in Paris to discuss the Olympics

Words by Sports Producer Joe Wardropper

Lord Seb Coe says he is comfortable with Saudi Arabia vying to host the Olympic Games, adding he’d observed "massive change" and a "profound" drive for gender equality in the country.

The World Athletics president told ITV News he didn’t know of any major sporting event failing to tip "the political world or social dial in the right direction" and that sport could "shine a spotlight on challenges that politicians shy away from."

Coe had previously signalled that World Athletics would consider investment from Saudi Arabia.

"I’ve seen those changes, and you need eternal vigilance," he told ITV News’ Sports Editor Steve Scott.

"But yes, let’s see how far we can use sport to make those changes. And at the moment, I see the evidence moving in the right direction."

Asked whether he would run to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the former 1500m gold medallist, said, "I don’t know if there’s a vacancy", before adding: "I would think about it, clearly, I mean I’ve spent half my life in the Olympic movement."

Speaking hours before Imane Khelif, the Algerian boxer embroiled in a dispute over gender and her eligibility to fight in Paris, fought for a gold medal, Coe stressed his commitment to "the preservation of the female category, because if you don’t do that, then no woman will ever win another sporting event."

Lord Coe tells ITV News he is committed to preserving the female category in sport

The IOC allows boxers to compete in women’s events in Paris if they hold a female passport.

World Athletics has a more restrictive policy, requiring women who have a condition called differences of sex development to suppress their testosterone levels, and bans transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty from women’s events altogether.

‘‘I can't really sit here having a glass ceiling where there are athletes, female athletes coming into our sport who know there will be a point beyond which biology is going to determine the outcome of what they're doing," Coe said. ‘‘And it's very simple for me, have a policy, stick to it, communicate it, and don't get distracted by dissenting voices."

Commenting on calls from London’s mayor Sadiq Khan to bring the Olympics back to London in 2040, Coe said: "I think London would stage a fabulous games. [But] it’s not quite that easy…

"And look, the world is competitive. I know that there are countries now who are openly talking about wanting to stage the games, including India. So it's not quite as easy as just saying, well 2040, that’s what we should go for. But London should have that ambition," he said.

Coe also praised 800m gold medal winner Keely Hodgkinson as being "as good as anybody’s been in the middle distance in the UK", citing her northern roots and her "different approach to life."

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