Sebastian Coe said that he wants the public to "fall in love again with athletics" and one of his priorities as the new IAAF president "will be to restore the sport's trust and integrity," according to Steven Downes of REUTERS. Coe said, "All the things I want really to get stuck in to, in the first hundred days actually, all that can only be predicated on two immutable principles of trust and integrity." The double Olympic 1,500m champion added that "he must banish the notion all leading athletes are using performance-enhancing drugs." Coe: "We've got to kill the perception that somehow the IAAF has been sitting on its hands, or is in some way complicit, in not doing enough." Coe denied that "he did not welcome media coverage alleging widespread drug use and official cover-ups." He said, "We shouldn't ever hide away from the media that wants to look and judge us." Coe: "For me the issue was really about the very selective use of information that actually shouldn't have been in the public domain, it was very private information, and information you could not extrapolate from in terms of one simple reading" (REUTERS, 8/24). The SUNDAY TIMES named 66 athletes competing at the 2015 World Championships "who have served bans for doping offenses." The athletes "all breached rules designed to prevent the use of performance-enhancing drugs but have exploited lenient rules to return to competition after suspensions." The number of banned athletes competing "will raise further questions about whether the athletics authorities are doing enough to combat the problem." British 1,500m runner David Baddeley described the numbers of banned athletes competing as "staggering." He said, "Sixty-odd athletes is a lot. That could be pretty much one in every semifinal" (SUNDAY TIMES, 8/23). The PA reported British track and field athlete Greg Rutherford "took another swipe at UK Athletics after booking his place in the long jump final" in Beijing. The Olympic champion claimed a “class system” within UKA was harming athletes. He said, “Things have not been working very well for me. As things come out, we’ll see there are different class systems within the system which I don’t think works well and, for me, is a massive hindrance. It’s safe to say there’s a bit more to come out in the coming months” (PA, 8/24).
