Coe, who won Olympic gold in the 1500m at both the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics 1984, has long pushed for cross-country to be included in the Winter Olympics.

He argued that it would open the games up to a larger African audience at a time in which the International Olympic Committee promotes diversity above all.

Coe has reportedly been discussing a joint proposal with the President of the International Cycling Federation (UCI), David Lappartient, to include both cross-country running and cyclo-cross, on the same circuit.

"There's a lot of detail to be sorted but we've had some good discussions about the thought of sharing the same course with cyclo-cross which in itself would probably add a little bit of jeopardy into cross-country which is what we've welcomed in the past, particularly around our recent cross-country championships," said Coe.

The last time cross-country was featured at an Olympic event was 1000 years ago when Paris last hosted the Summer Olympic Games back in 1924. The cross-country proved disastrous with the majority of athletes forced to drop out due to extreme heat and air pollution. 

While athletes at the Summer Games are more likely to focus on individual track glory according to Coe, having cross country at the Winter Olympics would mean they can give it their 100% attention and won't be sidetracked. 

One thing that has been taken into consideration, however, is that Winter Olympic events must be contested on snow or ice but for athletes and organisers this doesn't present a problem given that the World Cross-Country Championships are held in March.

The Milan/Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics are the next to come while just last month the International Olympic Committee announced that the northern and southern Alpine regions of France would unite under one global “French Alps” banner for the French Alps 2030 Winter Olympics. 

In the same announcement, the IOC also revealed that Salt Lake City in Utah, United States, also won the bid for 2034 as the preferred and only candidate.

"For me, there's one really important element in this: I've always wanted to see cross-country back. I think it is obviously more at home in the winter. It is historically, traditionally, a winter sport and it really does give Africa an opportunity to be a really serious part of the Winter Games" said Coe.

"There's a lot of goodwill. I've already had sensitive discussions with the US Olympic Committee and the Organising Committee in Salt Lake City."

With President of the International Cycling Federation, David Lappartient, also head of the French national Olympic committee behind the successful Alps bid, he will be key to Coe's attempts to get cross-country on the 2030 Winter Olympics programme.