Seb Coe has backed Britain’s golden girls to overcome the frustration of a postponed Olympics and dazzle at Tokyo 2021.
Dina Asher-Smith and Katarina Johnson-Thompson were crowned world champions only six months ago and had high hopes of surfing that wave of momentum through to Japan this summer.
The coronavirus pandemic put an end to that but Coe, President of World Athletics, believes the duo are made of the right stuff to adapt.
He said: “I hope that both Dina and Kat are at that point in their career where this disruption really doesn’t impact too dramatically on them.
“I don’t know that. But what they have both displayed to me, which is the absolute crucial asset for any athlete that’s got to the level they have, is resilience.
“I don’t minimise the impact this disruption will have. I guess there will be some athletes thinking they’re in the sweet spot of their career and another year may treat them unkindly.
“But I think the resilient athletes are going to manage their way through this.”
With three championships set for 2022, Coe said he would do everything possible to make sure the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham was in no way eclipsed by either the rescheduled World Championships in Oregon or the Europeans in Munich.
Asked if it was important Birmingham had its day in the sun, he said: “Absolutely. And not just cos I’m a Brit. I don’t want to do anything that stamps on a big opportunity for our sport to be sitting centre stage.
“If we do this carefully and if we do it with some collaboration there’s no reason why we shouldn’t have three outstanding athletics events in the course of that one year.”
