Coe acclaims athletics’ reach as first medals are won

The head of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, welcomed the first two of 144 Paris gold medals in his sport on Thursday as he acclaimed the universality of what he considers the “heart and soul” of the Olympics.

Ecuador’s Brian Pintado won the men’s 20km walk and China’s Yang Jiayu the women’s with the full track and field programme in the Stade de France cranking into action on Friday.

The Tokyo Games took place without fans due to COVID, while the crowds were disappointing at Rio 2016, so Coe was duly excited to look forward to 11 days of a sold-out, 70 000-capacity Stade de France.

The men’s and women’s 100 meters finals are always among the most eagerly-anticipated events but they have been given an even wider showcase this time on the back of Netflix’s “Sprint” documentary series, which is currently sitting in sixth place across all their programming and top of the sports chart.

Coe said he was quite relaxed about the development of shoe and track technology that is contributing to ever-diminishing times across most distances, and predicted the new, purple track at the Stade de France would also play its part.