TASVG holds Hurdles Workshop in Coe’s company

Members of the local track and field fraternity will have an opportunity to meet former England middle distance runner Sebastian Coe in the flesh.{{more}}

Seb Coe or Lord Coe, as he is often called, will pay a visit to St Vincent and the Grenadines this Saturday, March 21, and would have a first-hand view of the sport in operation, during the hosting of a Hurdles classic/instruction.

The classic, set for the Arnos Vale One Playing Field between 9 a.m. and 12 noon, will be conducted in the form of a workshop, where coaches will go through the progression of hurdles with athletes and interested coaches.

Coe, who is the current head of the British Olympic Committee, is seeking the presidency of world governing body, the IAAF.

He is heavily tipped to succeed the incumbent 81-year-old Lamine Diack, who is stepping down after 16 years in the post.

Coe’s strength of campaign is on the successful staging of the 2012 London Olympics, as he was the chair of the organizing committee of that Olympiad.

Elected as a vice-president of the IAAF in 2007, Coe, in his bid for an elevation, is expected to face challenges from former Ukrainian pole vault champion Sergei Bubka, who is also an IAAF vice-president, as well as former Moroccan hurdler Nawal El Moutawakel.

The latter is the first Muslim woman to win an Olympic gold medal.

Candidates have until May this year to register for their vote, with the election set for the IAAF Congress in Beijing in August.

During his active track life, Coe won four Olympic medals, inclusive of 1500 wins at the 1980 and 1984 games.

Coe set eight outdoor records and three indoor world records. His watershed period was in 1979, when he established three world records in the space of 41 days.

In 1981, he set a new mark in the 800m, which remained unbroken until 1997. (RT)