DANIA BOGLE, STAR Writer

Lord Sebastian Coe, who is bidding to become president of the Inter-national Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) this August, has put Caribbean track and field development high on his agenda.

The two-time Olympic champion, who is an IAAF vice president, hopes plans to reinstate the administration grant given to regional bodies to develop their track and field programmes

"The IAAF is only as good as its member federations. Many of the federations are trying to deliver athletic programmes on very limited funds," Coe told STAR Sports in a recent exclusive interview.

"What we need to do is to make sure the funding goes into those areas where we really can make a difference. Reinstating the administration grant, I think, will help make sure the development programmes are better tailored to local need."

Coe, who was in the Caribbean twice recently, first in Jamaica for two meets in February and in April at the Carifta Games in St Kitts, said many of the islands he visited do not have proper infrastructure, which makes development difficult.

Building proper running tracks is important.

"Particularly for those nations that don't have running tracks. It's very difficult to be encouraging federations and countries to invest in their elite programmes if there isn't the proper infrastructure to hold competitions on, through which the young talent emerges," he said.

"I'm pleased that some of the proposals that I've put forward do deal directly with the challenges identified," he added.

"It strikes me that when you have events that really help develop talent streams, they should not be worrying from one year to the next whether they will be able to stage the event."

distance/e-learning coaching programmes

Part of Coe's agenda also includes more distance/e-learning coaching programmes. "It's our national federations that deliver the sport; that identify the talent, nurture that talent, put coaching and development programmes around the athlete, that are trying to bring sponsorship, so the responsibility of the IAAF is to do everything it possibility can to work alongside the federations to make their jobs more effective," he concluded.