JUSTINE EYES DOHA RETURN - Qatar Olympic Committee

the big interview
Lamine Diack – continued from previous page.
though, which is why we work hard on our development
activities to make sure that track and field develops
real roots and becomes a genuine part of the culture,
particularly in schools and amongst the youth. We are very
happy that Qatar has adopted the IAAF’s Kids Athletics
programme – which is intended to allow youngsters to
practice the basics of athletics – in a way that is appealing
and fun”.
His focus on the role of sport in general - and
athletics in particular - in helping develop and provide
opportunities for youngsters, mirrors that of the Qatar
Olympic Committee itself and is based to a large extent
on personal experience.
“The key to everything is making the sport universal
and getting youth involved and we aim to play our part
to the full. This is a very important time for the world in
terms of health issues such as obesity and heart disease.
Because of its very simplicity, athletics has a role to play in
encouraging people to become more active and healthier
and we will work with governments and other groups to
achieve this.”
“We are very keen to promote the Middle
East – where there is massive growth
potential in business terms, participation
levels and fan bases. You can already see
athletics pushing hard in this region.”
“There is no doubt that while the IAAF needs to be diligent
about ensuring stability in ‘old markets’ for athletics such
as Europe, the exciting developments will come in areas
of the world where there is economic strength and where
our sport is not yet mature. This is why the IAAF is very
keen to promote the Middle East - where there is massive
growth potential not only in business terms but in terms
of participation levels and fan bases. You can already see
other sports like F1, golf, tennis and rugby pushing hard
in this region and athletics is no exception”.
Personal development
Diack is passionate about athletics because of what the
sport has given him and what he sees it doing for others.
“In my younger days at school we did basic athletics
- middle distance running, jumping and rope climbing.
When I was 12 or so I wanted to be the best in my class, I
wanted the class to be the best in the school and I wanted
the school to be the best in the area in every sporting
activity we were involved in. In this way athletics helped
my self-knowledge and personal development and gave
me and my schoolmates the opportunity to test ourselves.
Importantly, the disciplines learned and strengths built
for athletics prepared us to learn and develop the more
specific skills you need for others sports such as football,”
he said. Today, however, the relationship between sport
and childhood has changed significantly in many parts
of the world and this, says Diack, is cause for the gravest
concern.
“Athletics helped me to develop and I am concerned that
children today are not getting the opportunities which I
enjoyed,” he said.
“Today when children do sport it tends to be only
football rather than athletics plus football which is the
ideal combination. That’s why we are putting so much
effort into developing opportunities for youngsters to
participate in athletics because, unfortunately, they are not
always able to do it at school.”
Sporting heroes
He is also aware of the role of sporting heroes in encouraging
participation. His own boyhood hero - perhaps surprisingly
for somebody growing up in French-speaking Senegal
- was the English footballer Stanley Matthews, a winger
who inspired a generation of youngsters, not only through
his skill, but his attitude to sport and life in general.
Diack refuses to subscribe to the cynical view that there
are few heroes in athletics today.
“There are stars in every generation,” he says. “The
important thing is to provide them with the opportunities
to appear as role-models.”
If you look in the right places, athletics is packed-full of
inspirational athletes and their inspirational stories. Why
does Heile Gabriesellase, the Ethiopian distance runner,
crook his arm when running? It’s the legacy of carrying his
school books under his arm on the 10 kilometre, barefoot
run to and from his village to school as a youngster.
And what about Paula Radcliffe, the British runner
whose resilience and determination saw her recover from
the massive disappointments of the Athens Olympic
Games to triumph in this year’s New York marathon, after
becoming a mother for the first time.
IAAF World Indoor Championships
Discipline by discipline, country by country, there
are many more stories to tell. These are the tales of
achievement against adversity, of obstacles overcome and
of determination rewarded which tell what Diack sees as
the real story of athletics.
For Diack and the IAAF, the 2010 World Indoor
Championships in Doha will mark the beginning of a
new chapter in that story and create new heroes for a new
generation. The Championships will be played out in a
nation where sport is central to government policy and
where the focus on youth participation is seen by many
outsiders as a model for the rest of the world.
So how does world athletics’ leader sum up the potential
for sport in Qatar?
“Well, the IAAF World Indoor Championships will
take place in a venue that was built for the Asian Games
and I believe that the facilities are such that virtually every
major sport in the world could host a top event in Qatar,”
he said.
“That is a tribute to the intelligent leadership of the
Qatari authorities since, by hosting international sport, a
country is able to promote its image in a very positive way
and also contribute to better understanding and tolerance
between nations and cultures. My message today is to keep
up the good work and I look forward to my next visit!”
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