Dubai: Lord Sebastian Coe, former world champion athlete and one of the leading campaigners for the London Olympics, has lauded the efforts of Dubai in hosting an array of sporting events that are capable of inspiring younger generations.
Coe, also the Vice-President of International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), was in Dubai to announce the ‘Etisalat Dubai Kids’ Run’ on Sunday. The event will be held to coincide with Mothers’ Day celebrations on March 21.
More than two years after the success of the Olympics, Coe has been a first-hand witness to the lasting legacy of London 2012 with the government successfully initiating sports at the primary school level. Studies reveal that the success of sport at primary school level has resulted in at least 1.5 million children practising sport on a regular basis in the UK.
“Now about a billion pounds every year goes into youth sport in one way or another, so it is a very big commitment. I believe here too there is a similar thing going with the UAE school sports and now this run can only help. I will always encourage cities and communities to stage sporting events that inspires young people as this is what encourages the youngsters to take up the sport and participate. That can only be a good thing,” Coe told Gulf News.
“Cities will, of course, need to make sure that when they commit to an event they are able to properly resource it, that they find the right partners to help them deliver in the public sector and the private sector,” he added.
Coe, who won gold medals in the 1,500m at the 1980 and 1984 Olympic Games, stressed that communities, cities and large urban populations are given the opportunity to inspire people to sport. “For me, the most important aspect of large sporting events is how the young people are inspired by what they see. I went to the Olympic Games as an athlete but my journey started 12 years earlier when I watched an Olympic Games on television. These sort of things do have an impact,” he said.
Asked if Dubai should pitch in for a mega multi-discipline sporting event like an Olympic Games, Coe said: “Dubai already stages great sporting events throughout the year and these are adequate to inspire its residents, especially the younger lot.”
A die-hard Chelsea fan, the 58-year-old Coe had a word of appreciation for what coach Jose Mourinho has been doing with the team. “They did it [won 2-1 against QPR on Saturday] the hard way. I watched the match on television. But all I can say is that it’s a very, very good side and I would leave our great coach [Mourinho] to decide on how he wants to use the players. As a Chelsea fan, it’s good watching the football they are playing,” Coe added.
