Delivering an Olympics, a complicated process

Sebastian Coe, the only man in Olympic history to win back-to-back 1,500m gold medals, who heads World Athletics and is in the running to be the next president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), brought up the Perth Test.

- Rutvick Mehta

"It gives me great pleasure to watch Australia suffer in cricket," the Briton joked.

Cricket wasn't the only subject of interest during Coe's visit to India, which concluded in Mumbai with World Athletics and Tata Communications presenting a roadmap for their five-year global broadcasting services collaboration. In a chat with HT, Coe spoke about receiving a formal bid from India to stage the U-20 World Championships in 2028, the country's interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics, and Neeraj Chopra teaming up with Czech javelin world record holder Jan Zelezny. Excerpts:

A lot more Indians have started to follow athletics over the last few years. Do you hope to see India host a few major events?

Well, I was very pleased to be given a formal application to bid for the U-20 World Championships in 2028. So, that is moving in the right direction. This is an ambitious federation and an ambitious government that also understands the importance of major sporting events.

India has also expressed formal interest in hosting the 2036 Olympics. Your view.

Look, I'm excited about any city that wants to stage the ultimate event. It comes with some health checks. It's a complicated process, and I'm not just talking about the bid. I'm talking about the delivery.