We have to toughen up, admits Coe
From Back Page was ‘nothing to do with the result’ — Gatlin had beaten crowd favourite Bolt — blaming the confusion over an administrative error. Reflecting on Gatlin’s victory, Coe added on Garry Richardson’s BBC Sportsweek show: ‘There have been two bans in the past, one which got watered down which made it very difficult for the second ban. The second ban we went for an eight-year ban which would have in essence been a life ban — we lost that. So these things are suffused in legality. ‘We now have an athletics integrity unit and we need to make sure we do everything we possibly can to toughen up but actually we are bound within the WADA world code. ‘What I take comfort from is that people do care about this and while you have caring you have hope. There is a road map in front of us and we have to take it. ‘We are partly caught up by our history, our mandatory nature and the arbitrary judgements the court makes. The IAAF did suggest an eight-year ban and we lost that.’ There were boos for Gatlin when he received his gold — but the abuse was more muted than after he had defeated Bolt and second-placed Christian Coleman the previous evening. Indeed, the booing was eventually replaced by quiet applause from many.