This decision inevitably drew criticisms from some elite athletes participating in those events but Coe said that no change could be universally popular.

"Every event will be judged at the end of the year for its popularity, for the amount of broadcast time, for the amount of interest for the social media. These are all the things that we will take into consideration. But it is really important that we changed."

Coe said that Diamond League had run eight years without a sponsor, "the second we started to talk about change and making it a faster pacier format, then we get a sponsor. And there's no coincidence in that".

"We can't be a sport that is innately conservative, and not being prepared to embrace young and new audiences," said Coe.

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