Justin Gatlin drug storm a wake-up call for athletics, says Sebastian Coe

Exclusive: Fans welcome to boo Gatlin's win over Bolt, says IAAF chief

Lord Coe has said the drugs storm that has engulfed athletics after Justin Gatlin’s World Championships win is a “wake-up call” for the sport. The US sprinter, who has twice been banned for doping offences, beat Usain Bolt to the gold in a 100-metre showdown on Saturday, triggering a chorus of boos around the London Stadium.

In his Standard column, Lord Coe, president of athletics’ governing body the IAAF, said he understood the reaction. “People are welcome to boo,” he said. “We’re not the thought police and we can’t tell people what to think or feel. I don’t want people not to care and, in a funny way, I perhaps would have been slightly concerned if it had been a case of business as usual with all this.”

The crowd’s response to Gatlin’s 9.92-second win is the latest doping row to overshadow the sport in recent years. Lord Coe said: “There is a bit of a wake-up call at the moment… I’d like to think we’ve responded to that.”

The two-times Olympic champion has pledged to clean up athletics since taking over as president in 2015, setting up an independent integrity unit to deal with doping issues, and has long advocated lifetime bans for drug cheats. However, he warned there was a danger of aiming the frustration over cheating “at just one person”.

Gatlin, 35, said: “I’ve served my time and done community service, I’ve talked to kids and I inspire them to walk the right path. That’s all I can do. Society does that with people who make mistakes and I hope that track and field does that too.”

The sprinter, cast as the pantomime villain in his rivalry with Bolt, 30, received another hostile response when he was awarded his medal in the stadium in Stratford yesterday, with jeers ringing out from some sections of the audience. Bolt, who took bronze and looks set to go head to head against Gatlin once more in the 4x100m relay final on Saturday, defended the American’s right to compete in London.

“He’s done his time, he’s here,” said the Jamaican. “I always respected him as a competitor, for me he deserves to be here. He’s worked hard to get back to being one of the best athletes. I look at him like any other athlete, as a competitor.”

Despite the controversy, viewing figures show that the championships have been a hit. More than 11 million people tuned in to watch the opening two nights. The coverage was the most-watched programme on Friday and Saturday, accounting for about a third of all TV viewing in the country across both nights.

In Pictures | World Athletics Championships 2017

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Almost 5.2 million watched live on BBC1 on Friday, the night Mo Farah clinched gold in the 10,000m in front of a sell-out crowd. The coverage, which included Laura Muir getting her campaign under way in the 1,500m, peaked at 7.5 million viewers.

A further six million tuned in on Saturday night to see Usain Bolt’s last 100m race at a major championships before retirement — a more than 35 per cent share of primetime viewing. The night’s action hit a high of 8.8 million viewers.

Last night’s coverage, which featured the women’s 100m final and a special medal ceremony for Jessica Ennis-Hill to receive her re-allocated World Championships gold medal, peaked at 7.3 million. Millions more tuned in for the BBC2 highlights shows after 10pm.

A total of 253,320 tickets were sold for the first five sessions of the opening three days, thought to be the most for the opening weekend of a world championships.The London 2017 athletics has already smashed the record for the highest number of tickets sold across a World Championships — almost 700,000. The last highest was 417,000 for the Berlin championships in 2009.

Ennis-Hill, 31, today hailed the opening of the World Championships as a chance to inspire a generation of young sports stars following her emotionally charged special medal ceremony.

Roars rang out at the former Olympic Stadium last night as the tearful Briton was awarded her medal, upgraded from silver, for her heptathlon performance at the 2011 World Championships in Daegu. It ended a six-year wait after Ennis-Hill was cheated out of the gold by Russian doper Tatyana Chernova.

The upgrade was confirmed last month when the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed an appeal by Chernova.

Ennis-Hill, who won gold at the London 2012 Olympics and at the last World Championships in Beijing in 2015, said: “I have waited six years [for this medal]. I am just really happy. Bringing the World Championships to the Olympic Stadium is a huge boost for the sport of athletics. It reminds everyone of the magic of London 2012 but also raises the profile of my sport.

“We need to keep inspiring the next generation and bringing the greats of athletics to our capital is brilliant.”

She told fans to “make as much noise as you can in support of the GB athletes”, adding: “A great atmosphere will make it a better experience for the athletes and that should bring out their best.”

Ennis-Hill, who retired after winning silver at the Rio Olympics last year, added: “Any athlete you ask from anywhere in the world would say that London is a brilliant city to compete in at a major championships due to the incredible crowds. Having a full stadium makes a massive difference.”

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