IAAF President Sebastian Coe said that he "cannot guarantee next month's World Athletics Championships will be drug free," according to the BBC. Russia's athletics federation is banned from the event in London, having been suspended by the sport's global governing body in '15 "amid allegations of state-sponsored doping." Coe: "It's a very utopian view, people will always seek to cheat." He added, however, that the system for detecting cheats "is a lot safer." Coe: "I would love to tell you that we will have a drug-free sport in future. Everything we are doing is engaged in trying to achieve that but we know a few people will cheat." Coe was also asked about Eugene, Oregon, being awarded the 2021 World Athletics Championships. The decision is being investigated by the FBI and the criminal division of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Coe said, "First of all, 23 people voted for Eugene, Oregon." He added, "I would have loved other cities in the United States to have bid for it. Eugene wasn't our choice, it was the choice of United States Track & Field Association" (BBC, 7/23).
NEW EVENT: REUTERS' Christian Radnedge reported a women's 50km race walk will be featured at the World Athletics Championships for the first time "in order to ensure gender equality," the IAAF said on Sunday. Previously, women only competed in a 20km race walk in the competition and the Olympic Games, "while men competed over the same distance and in a 50km event." The women's 50km race walk was only recognized by the IAAF as an official event in January of this year (REUTERS, 7/23).