Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Growing athletics is at the top of Jon Ridgeon’s to-do list

Written by 
Published in Athletics
Saturday, 13 July 2019 06:56

IAAF chief executive believes building on “six pillars” will help to turn athletics’ fortunes around

Jon Ridgeon is facing forward. The world silver medal-winning hurdler and double Olympian has had an eventful time since assuming his role as IAAF chief executive earlier this year. He recalls his first IAAF council meeting back in March, during which president Seb Coe used his address to outline how the first four years of his presidency – he is due to be re-elected unopposed for another term in September – had centred around change, reform and trying to heal the wounds inflicted by the previous incumbents at the top of the sport.

Now Ridgeon believes the next four will centre around the growth of athletics – from the very elite echelons right through to those using the sport as means to stay fit or improve their health.

The 52-year-old wants to tempt more fans to come and watch meetings in the flesh, to increase the capacity brought by the all-important people who give up their time to volunteer.

As challenges go, it is a sizeable one – particularly given the ever-increasing demands and distractions on the general public’s time and money.

But the man who built a very successful post-athletics career – he is a businessman and formerly a senior figure in the management company Fast Track, which used to organise the top athletics events in Britain, not to mention a broadcaster for the likes of Sky Sports and BBC – is relishing his task.

He also has what he calls “six pillars” that will help him to achieve his aim and, in the process, bring commercial success back to a sport very much in need of a financial boost.

“Any sports governing will want to maximise revenue and we’re no different but my view is that if you actually do the right thing and grow the sport then the partnerships will follow anyway,” says Ridgeon, who competed at the 1988 and 1996 Olympics.

Photo by Mark Shearman

“Growing the sport is based around a strategy of six pillars.

“Firstly we have to create the best possible stage for our athletes and that’s all about competition reform and we’re in the middle of doing that – Diamond League being an example.

“Secondly, it’s making sure we engage a huge new generation of fans.

“The third pillar is to get the world moving. We are the most participated sport in the world. Somewhere between half a billion and three quarters of a billion people are active athletes, active runners. Let’s make that a billion.

“The fourth area is that we’ve got to build partnerships, but that’s not just sport partnerships, fitness partnerships or commercial partnerships. We’re already working with the World Health Organisation, the UN environmental association. Partnerships are key to building a sport.

“We also have to place athletes at the centre of everything we do. Lots of people talk about that but we’ve actually got to walk the walk and do that.

“Finally, we’ve got to build on what we’ve done over the past four years and become the most respected sport. How will we achieve that? We’ll continue to lead world sport in areas where we are leading already and it will be about the people in the sport – the volunteers, elected professionals and the impact we have on the world.

“We’re driven with ambition.”

Whether it be the Diamond League changes he alludes to, the creation of world rankings, the furore around athletes with Differences of Sex Development, the continued stance against Russia or even the fact that the world governing body will change its name later this year, it’s clear that things are moving fast at the IAAF.

Not everything they do is met with universal approval, of course. Ridgeon states his side of the story on some of the big issues in a feature interview in the latest issue of AW and, as someone who knows what it takes to succeed at the sharp end of an unforgiving sport, insists that he tries to view matters from the point of view of those right in the thick of it.

“Athletes have to be central to our decision-making,” he says. “It’s remarkable that Seb, for all of his experience, still thinks like an athlete and takes the athlete’s view first. I certainly try to do the same.

“We’re trying to really back up what we’re saying here so, for example, on the council later this year it will have two full athlete members with full voting rights so we really are making changes in the sport.

“It’s important to remember the athlete’s mentality and ultimately ‘why are we all doing this? We’re doing it for the athletes’. But by that I mean athletes in the widest sense. It’s not just about the elites, we’re also the governing body for all of athletics so we also need to do more for people who just want to keep fit through athletics because we’ve got an equal responsibility to them as well.”

He adds: “When this opportunity came up it just felt absolutely right for me. It’s the most challenging role that I’ve ever had but it’s the most natural role that I’ve ever had – there has not been a day since I took the role when I haven’t woken up genuinely looking forward to the day.

“It feels like coming full circle to a degree and I fully understand the level of responsibility that comes with the role as well.”

Read 4397 times

Soccer

Barça boss: Our job to end Hayes' UWCL fairytale

Barça boss: Our job to end Hayes' UWCL fairytale

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBarcelona coach Jonatan Giráldez has set his sights on ending Chels...

USWNT's Albert apologizes after Rapinoe criticism

USWNT's Albert apologizes after Rapinoe criticism

EmailPrintUnited States women's national team midfielder Korbin Albert apologized on Thursday for pr...

Leicester sack women's boss for breach of conduct

Leicester sack women's boss for breach of conduct

EmailPrintLeicester City manager Willie Kirk has been dismissed from his position after an internal...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

Basketball

Hornets shut down LaMelo (ankle) for season

Hornets shut down LaMelo (ankle) for season

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCharlotte Hornets guard LaMelo Ball will not play again this season...

Lawyer: Ex-G Leaguer won't face death penalty

Lawyer: Ex-G Leaguer won't face death penalty

EmailPrintFormer G League player Chance Comanche, who was charged with the murder of a woman whose b...

Baseball

Opening Day takeaways: What we learned from a wild start to the 2024 MLB season

Opening Day takeaways: What we learned from a wild start to the 2024 MLB season

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsWhat an MLB Opening Day!All 30 teams were scheduled to be in action...

Heroic debut: Soto's throw saves Yankees in 9th

Heroic debut: Soto's throw saves Yankees in 9th

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsHOUSTON -- That Juan Soto's first signature Yankee moment happened...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated