The London 2012 chairman warned on the eve of the World Championships, which open in Osaka on Saturday, that the long-term future of athletics could be harmed unless the powers took drastic steps.

 

"There's a prevailing view that because we are living in the iPod generation and the screen-based activity generation that the game is up," Coe said.

 

"It's an overwhelming challenge in a competitive landscape.

 

"But actually the game is anything but up. It provides us with the biggest opportunity.

 

"We have to communicate in language they understand and use technology that they're familiar with."

 

Coe is also seeking election as a vice-president of the sport's governing IAAF body this week.

 

The Briton is expected to sail through tomorrow's vote at the IAAF congress and his new duties would involve boosting the appeal of athletics to the young. 

 

Coe suggested a snappier format could be the answer. "I have four children aged 15 and under," he said.

 

"We have season tickets at Chelsea.

 

"We're there at 2:30.

 

"The match starts at 3.

 

"We're home by 6.

 

"Track and field has to understand the concept of 10-day championship where not a lot happens during course of a session is not perhaps  the most attractive proposition.

 

"My kids come with great pleasure to Brussels or Zurich or London (for a grand prix meeting).

 

"It's three hours of concentrated activity."

 

Coe acknowledged the scale of his task had not been made easier by several high-profile doping scandals that have tarnished the sport's image in recent years. 

 

"Parents are an influence on what their kids take up. We've got to be absolutely sure we are encouraging them into an environment that isn't a predatory environment," he said.

 

Coe and Ukraine's former pole vault great Sergei Bubka are widely thought to be the front-runners to replace IAAF president Lamine Diack in 2012.

 

Coe wants to restore some of the glamour to athletics and knows it begins with the packaging, smiling at the suggestion of a track and field version of cricket's Twenty20 format.
"We have got to be very clear about how we present the sport," he said.

 

"Don't get me wrong -- I'm not out here to prostitute the brand.

 

"I'm the last to trample over the sensitivities of the purists.

 

"I'm a purist at heart.

 

"But I also have to be realistic and say we might have to think of a simpler format.

 

"When you've got youngsters in the stadium and nothing happens for 15 to 20 minutes what happens?

 

"It's off to the burger bar."