Coe: A second gold for Mo will be perfect end to Olympic Games
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UPDATED:
22:23 GMT, 10 August 2012
Mo Farah can give the greatest track-and-field meeting ever the perfect ending for Britain by winning the 5,000 metres gold medal on Saturday.
That is the opinion of the man orchestrating the show in the Olympic Park, LOCOG chairman Lord Coe, the winner of two Olympic golds himself.
'He is tough enough. I don’t think he is thinking, “I've done it, and I can now sort of switch off – I’ve won my Olympic medal”. I think he wants it. And also because I think he is fast enough, I think it would be the perfect ending to the best track-and-field meeting ever,' said Coe.
Go, Mo! Farah can round off the athletics on a high for Team GB
'I have never been in a stadium with a crowd like this, in numbers and noise. I also think it has been a spectacle. It has shown track-and-field audiences, as we have known for many years, as one of the most respectful that follow sport. It is not partisan.
'When Greg Rutherford was at a critical moment with two jumps left and the Americans left in competition, they were still cheering the Americans down the runway.
'It's got to be built on. I made the point the other night to a group of my IAAF (world athletics governing body) colleagues. Forget that this is in my country, and that I’m proud I have done it – this should be our template. That when we present track and field well it can be as exciting and competitive as any other sport.'
As good as it can be 'That's a very dangerous concept. I think what we have done here is fulfil the potential of track and field. I'm not sure it’s fulfilled anywhere else. This is probably uncomfortable reading for some people but actually it has been the success of our ticketing system, which has sold out every session. That's never been done before, not even in Sydney.
'I remember walking into the first morning of track and field in Sydney and thinking, “That’s pretty good, they’ve got half the stadium full”.
'The morning my colleagues walked in – that first morning here – at 10am and just looked around. It was like watching your kids opening their eyes on the first morning of snow. They were just absolutely astonished by what they were seeing.
Job well done: Coe can be proud of what he and everyone involved in the Games has achieved
'For me, that was personal for all sorts of reasons – the tedious conversations we’ve been having about the stadium (legacy) – this was a sport that was strong and was really going to punch its weight.'
Before Friday more than 800,000 are thought to have watched the sport in the Olympic Stadium, the largest number ever, although it is an estimate because LOCOG refuses to give figures.
'We’ve got some really big names and we’ve got to build on that,’ added Coe. ‘We must not confuse the success and profile and popularity of Usain Bolt with the popularity of the sport. But I do think the sport is in better shape than it’s been in for a long time.'
Coe is also determined that tomorrow’s children are not forced to bunk off school like he did to get in the training miles that turned him into a double Olympic champion.
Legacy was the buzzword of London’s winning Olympic bid — and debate has raged as to how that can best be achieved. On the playing fields of our schools is one starting point.
Coe went to a secondary modern – to his father's horror – before going to a grammar school for his A-levels. He has joked that turning up in a Sheffield schoolyard with a name like Sebastian prepared him for anything.
But speaking seriously, he said that the failure of school sport 'has probably made us the first generation of parents that are marginally fitter than our kids'.
Final flourish: Farah is aiming to double his gold tally in the 5,000 metre final
He added: 'I went through the state school system and I didn’t ever play competitive sport inside the school timetable. Sport for me was something Sheffield’s cross-country league organised on a Saturday morning, by teachers who spent a lot of their time outside school hours doing it.
'The guy that inspired me was my year tutor. He used to let me bunk off religious instruction classes. He’d sidle up to me and say, “How are you off for mileage this week” I'd say, “A bit thin” and he'd say, “Off you go”. Which probably tells you a lot about my moral underpinning as well.'
Coe, 55, was relaxed as he spoke to the media on Friday, basking in the success of the Games with just 72 hours to go. He said he and his organisers must now ‘run through the line’ to complete the successful fortnight.
Beyond the Games, he has made no secret of his desire to become president of the IAAF. Many people would additionally welcome his leadership in developing British sport more generally.
However, he said yesterday that he cannot see beyond the Paralympics that end next month. It is likely he will stay on the edges of the school sport debate rather than take responsibility for it.
Lord Moynihan, the chairman of the BOA, favours a model tried out at Tonbridge School earlier this summer: the whole school community day, a festival of sporting, academic and artistic activities from football to taekwondo, from maths to speed stacking.
Packed house: The Olympic Stadium has been full to the rafters
Primary schools in the area were invited to take part with Tonbridge boys and former Olympians helping them learn the sports. It is a ‘bottom up’ approach, needing little Government involvement or money.
Coe would not be drawn into the politics but said: 'It is really important that we promote competitive sport in schools. I’m not talking about kids of six and seven playing in highly competitive leagues where by the age of 10 they have lost the joy of what they’re doing, but sensibly organised, sensibly planned – that has to be a good thing.
'Sport is a pretty good metaphor for life: they learn that it’s hard work, it’s diligence, the help and support of close friends, family, loved ones and all the things that should sit at the core of the family.'
