Coe sees athletic start-ups as collaborators

MONACO - World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said he welcomed a number of innovative new track start-ups shaking up the sport's status quo, as athletics moves to draw more eyeballs after another successful Olympics.

Former champion sprinter Michael Johnson's Grand Slam Track launches in 2025 and investor Alexis Ohanian's women's-only Athlos will eye a repeat performance after a successful inaugural meet in September, both offering big paydays to lure top talent.

"We should be comforted that we've created a landscape that people think that it's worth investing in our sport. They weren't doing that five years ago," Coe told reporters on Dec 4, following the World Athletics council meeting.

"I'm welcoming of all sorts of investment - within reason. And it's important that we work as collaborators here, not competitors. I just see a rising tide as helping everybody," the Briton, 68, added.

"I want them to be successful - I want them to add lustre to our sport and I think there's space for everybody here."

Grand Slam Track will feature four three-day, track-only events in Kingston, Jamaica and Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles.