It's interesting that Coe, who has insinuated in recent months that track needs to work on its presentation was very vocal in his defense of both the triple jump and race-walking.
Dick Pound said:
Canadian IOC member Dick Pound, a former Olympic swimmer, was quick to throw out some suggestions.
When asked what sports the Olympics could live without, he told Reuters "Synchronised swimming... and maybe triple jump.
"Everybody has to share the load for the good of the Olympics."
but Seb Coe responded:
Seb Coe said:
I'll let Dick make observations about his own sport and I will make them about mine, and triple jump is a sacrosanct sport in track and field," Coe said.
But Coe, who last week launched his campaign to become president of world athletics' governing body, the IAAF, said he was not surprised track and field was already being mentioned.
"We have 47 different disciplines so it is inevitable," he told reporters....
Coe also leapt to the defence of race walking which has been questioned in the past.
"Race walking is a sport that is covered in China, Russia, large parts of Central America, Southeast Asia, Italy and Spain. It is a very important part of our sport," he said.
I'd sort of just assumed his recent comments meant we should get rid of some track events.
It's interesting to see how track is viewed by others. I always think all of the ridiculous swimming events are out of control (how many relays do they have?) but then they probably view the 47 aspects of track as absurd in similar fashion.