A general view shows the Khalifa International Stadium, the venue for the upcoming 2019 IAAF World Athletics Championships in Doha, yesterday.
LONDON: The head of world athletics Sebastian Coe wants to end his federation’s ‘computer says no’ approach which would mean that if Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge runs a sub-two hour marathon next month it would not be ratified as a world record.
What could be one of the most extraordinary feats of human endurance will be written off as a footnote with an asterisk by the sport’s governing body because of arcane regulations that nobody seems close to being able to explain or justify.
The 34-year-old Kipchoge will not be racing in the upcoming World Championships but his latest attempt at breaking the two-hour barrier in October is likely to attract more worldwide attention than anything that happens in Doha next week.
He missed it by 26 seconds two years ago and is having another attempt in a Vienna park via the “1.59” project.
Kipchoge holds the official world 26.2 mile record of two hours, 1.39 minutes set in the Berlin Marathon last year.
But his 2:00.25 Monza time in 2017 is not recognised as it was achieved using “in and out pacemakers”, was not an official race and he was given mid-race drinks from a moving motorbike rather than having to collect them from a roadside table.
“If there’s an exciting attempt for getting under two hours for the marathon I’m not sure that most people are going to be sitting there going, ‘Well, it wasn’t sanctioned as a world record because it wasn’t in open competition,’ Coe told in an interview.
“I just don’t think it matters. It’s just a big milestone being met and our sport has space for all sorts of things and I think it will appeal and add value.”
Roger Bannister’s first sub-four minute mile in 1954 was achieved with the aid of pacemakers, while just about every middle and long-distance race on the elite Diamond League circuit uses them - and they do not complete the race.
The latest edition of the World Championships starts in Doha on Friday - with Coe standing unopposed for re-election tomorrow.
For all his concerns, and what many consider the still-unfilled void left by the retirement of Jamaica’s sprinting great Usain Bolt, the IAAF president is hugely upbeat about the next generation and the way they are engaging with fans.
“Look at (Norwegian 400m runner) Karsten Warholm - the impact he had on the stadium in Zurich and Paris was staggering,” Coe said.
