MX23RW : Wednesday, June 12 12:15:38| >> :600:24108983:24108983:

Sebastian Coe 'cannot guarantee' drug-free World Athletics Championships

Lord Sebastian Coe claims that certain athletes "will always seek to cheat", but believes that it is now a lot easier to spot those who benefit from doping.

Lord Sebastian Coe has admitted that it is impossible to guarantee that next month's World Athletics Championships will be completely clean of drug use.

Athletics has been rocked by a number of high-profile doping cases in recent years, arguably the biggest of which has led to Russian Federation athletes being banned from competing in London.

Lord Coe is hopeful of seeing the Championships pass by without incident, however, claiming that it is now a lot easier to spot drug cheats.

"It's a very utopian view, people will always seek to cheat," he told BBC Sport. "We have the technology that allows us to be very much more specific about what we are looking for.

"I would love to tell you that we will have a drug-free sport in future. Everything we are doing is engaged in trying to achieve that but we know a few people will cheat.

"What we do have in place now is an independent athlete integrity unit, we have independent sanctioning and discipline and we will be able to be a lot tougher and speed up the process."

Russia have been barred from competing in international athletics events following the release of the McLaren report last year, which revealed the use of a state-sponsored doping programme between 2011 and 2015.

ID:303280: cacheID:303280:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:2200:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko attends the presentation of the new Russia's national ice hockey squad's uniform for the 2016 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Moscow on October 30, 2015. The Championship will be held in Moscow and St. Petersburg
Read Next:
IAAF votes to provisionally suspend Russia
>
Read more about Sebastian Coe Athletics
rhs 2.0
Euro 2024 fixtures header
Friday, June 14
 
8pm
Saturday, June 15
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 16
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 17
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, June 18
 
5pm
Wednesday, June 19
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Thursday, June 20
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Group Stage
Spain
vs.
Italy
Friday, June 21
 
2pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
Saturday, June 22
 
5pm
 
8pm
Sunday, June 23
 
8pm
 
8pm
Monday, June 24
 
8pm
 
8pm
Tuesday, June 25
 
5pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
 
8pm
Wednesday, June 26
 
5pm
 
5pm
 
8pm
 
8pm
Saturday, June 29
Sunday, June 30
Monday, July 1
Tuesday, July 2
Friday, July 5
Saturday, July 6


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!