Outgoing IAAF Chief Seeks to Lift Athletics -- On the Scene

(ATR) Lamine Diack hopes attention will switch from the doping allegations casting a shadow over athletics to the field of play when the world championships start Saturday.

Diack has repeatedly defended the IAAF against accusations in recent weeks that it has been soft in its approach to tackling the doping cheats following a series of revelations. He did so again Thursday at a press conference in Beijing on the eve of the world championships.

"As from Saturday, we will talk about athletics and competition much more, and we will no longer talk about doping, I hope," Diack said.

With the men’s 100m final on Sunday, athletics’ marquee event, pitting twice-banned Justin Gatlin against Jamaican superstar Usain Bolt, talk of doping in the sport is hardly likely to disappear – especially if the U.S. sprinter wins at the Bird’s Nest stadium. Gatlin is in top form and the favorite.

Earlier in the day at a press conference across the city, the defending 100m and 200m world champion was peppered with questions about doping. Bolt reacted by saying he was sad that the issue was taking center stage in the build-up to Beijing 2015.

"All I've been hearing is doping, doping, doping. All the questions have been about doping," said Bolt, who won his first Olympic title at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, which turned him into a global star.

"It's sad that it's been at the forefront for the world championships and not the competition," the 28-year-old added.

The outgoing IAAF president spent most of the world championships press conference fending off questions about the doping cloud hanging over athletics.

Diack was asked how important it was for the IAAF’s independent commission to shortly deliver its report on doping allegations made in several German TV documentaries in order to restore the credibility of the IAAF.

Broadcaster ARD alleged that many of the 150 suspicious blood samples it had obtained were not examined by the IAAF with many from Russia.

Diack refused to be drawn: "We have appointed a commission [led by former WADA president Dick Pound]. Let them do their inquiry and submit their report. When the decision is ready, we will be notified and we will notify you."

On the task of the incoming president Coe to improve the fight against doping and preserve the integrity of the sport, Diack said: "I was there at the beginning in 1976 as vice president. We went through the whole evolution in the struggle against doping."

He spoke about the contribution made by Arne Ljungqvist, chairman of the IAAF Medical Commission from 1980-2004, who, he said, "was at the root of what was done against doping in athletics".

"We pushed for WADA to be created because we wanted governments and sports federations to work hand in hand," he said.

Some have suggested the IAAF can learn lessons from cycling’s efforts to tackle its own doping problems head-on.

"We have no lesson to be taught by any other sport," he emphasized. "We have done what we had to do and started doing it before any others."

"This long-standing struggle we have been conducting… we keep doing this. We will continue to do our job like we have always done not because there is any fuss around it now."

"We cannot afford to have our performances being in doubt. We are convinced that 99 percent of our athletes are clean," he added.

With Coe taking a "zero tolerance" approach to doping, Diack said "so this will be our standard. In athletics we are ready to go for this."

Reported by Mark Bissonin Beijing

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