SAN JOSE, Costa Rica, (Reuters) – Athletes must themselves decide the future they want for their sport following the latest doping crisis, former Olympic sprint champion Carl Lewis said yesterday.
Athletics was rocked by a damning report in British newspaper The Sunday Times and by German broadcaster ARD/WDR at the weekend that accused the International Association of Athletics Federations of failing to investigate hundreds of what they called “suspicious” drug tests between 2001 and 2012.
The report raised new questions about the sport just weeks before the Aug. 22-30 world championships in Beijing.
“The future of athleticism depends on the athletes,” Lewis told Reuters ahead of the inauguration of the NACAC athletics championships in Costa Rica. “At the end of the day, the sport is going to be as good as the athletes want.
“If they really want changes, they want the sport to grow, then they are the ones that have to stand up and work with the powers to make sure it happens.”
