STELLENBOSCH (AP):

It's no secret that Sebastian Coe is a good friend of Usain Bolt. A photo of them together in Jamaica appeared on both their Twitter pages this week, with Bolt's hand resting casually on Coe's shoulder. The 100-metre world record holder describes Coe as "good company" in the post.

Yet Coe, a two-time Olympic middle-distance champion now running for president of track and field's governing body, feels athletics needs to find life beyond Bolt if it is to keep up in an ultra-competitive sporting market.

"One of the challenges we have is to show that we have athletes other than Usain Bolt, and I'm a big fan of Usain Bolt," the British great said from France in a phone interview with the Associated Press.

"We have great athletes and we have to really shine a light on them so our sport is not just about Usain Bolt."

Coe recognises that's pretty tough considering the superstar status of the Jamaican sprinting sensation.

"That's a bit like going to the boxing community in the '60s and '70s and saying boxing is not just about Muhammad Ali. Because Usain Bolt is in that category," he said.

In terms of leadership, the IAAF probably sees change less often than most bodies. It has had five presidents in its 103-year history, and the last time World Athletics had a new leader, Bolt was a 13-year-old kid in the Caribbean only just discovering that he wasn't half-bad at running.

For Coe, athletics must "embrace change" and he said his vision is especially about getting youngsters excited and involved.

He wants a shake-up of the meet calendar to allow fans to see the best compete against each other more often. He has spoken of the battle for attention that athletics faces from other sports, like tennis and regularly seeing Roger Federer vs Rafael Nadal, and from soccer and blockbuster rivalries like Barcelona vs Real Madrid.

That means the likes of Bolt and 800m world record holder David Rudisha running against their biggest challengers far more often, not just at the Olympics and the worlds.

"This is not a 'nice to have.' This is essential," he said.