Current president of World Athletics Sebastian Coe fears London may lose its status as a world class athletics city.
Recent developments have alluded to U.K. Athletics (UKA) terminating its current 50-year agreement with London Stadium, which has been home to UKA since 2015 and English Premier League football club West Ham United since 2016.
“We have to maintain, we should maintain, a really world-class presence for track and field in London,” said Coe, who chaired the London 2012 Olympics organizing committee.
Currently the lease tendered by UKA has a one-month window every year to host athletics at the London Stadium. However costs to convert the pitch to a track and field facility suitable to World Athletics standards are substantial - around £3 million annually.
These steep costs are causing the UKA to consider a £15 million buyout from the London Legacy Development Corporation to terminate the lease early. If that were to happen, London may not see a return of world class athletics anytime soon.
“World championships don’t always go to capital cities,” said Coe. “But I think we have to recognize that the quality, the natural assets, that London has in an Olympic stadium are still an attraction. We have member federations within minutes of the 2017 [championships], coming to me saying: ‘Can’t we just bring them back to London every two years?’ So, it’s a big asset. Of course it’s a big asset.”
Crystal Palace in south London has been rumored to be a replacement for London Stadium, but like the West Ham facility renovation, costs may not make it feasible.
Alexander Stadium in Birmingham has recently been redeveloped for the upcoming Commonwealth Games. Some speculate the UKA could take the buyout and relocate. But London is one of the ‘crown jewels’ on the athletics tour and losing it as a host city would be a blow to the city and World Athletics.
As Coe states, “It would be bizarre. I want London to remain a stopping point for international athletics.”
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