IAAF President Seb Coe Calls Athletics 'Alive And Strong' Following Olympic Week

IAAF President Sebastian Coe gave "a ringing endorsement" to the Olympic athletics program on Saturday, acclaiming a "remarkable week" that showed athletics is "alive and incredibly strong," according to Mitch Phillips of REUTERS. Coe accepted there had been "disappointing crowds and scheduling challenges but insisted increased website traffic was an indicator of sustained interest in the sport." Coe said, "This has been a remarkable week." Pressed to "address the poor crowds," which have routinely seen the 60,000-seat Olympic Stadium "barely a quarter full in the mornings and showing many empty seats in evening sessions, Coe accepted there had been issues." He said, "We have to be realistic about numbers, there have been sessions where I would like to have seen more people. But we have had good crowds and in the digital space, it's gone through the roof, that shows a real passion" (REUTERS, 8/20).