News Athletics legend Sebastian Coe believes the new running track laid for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games has all the ingredients for competitors to break records this August Coe, a double Olympic champion in the 1500m and now president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), paid his first visit to the Olympic Stadium in Rio on Sunday (15 May) to observe the athletics test event Work on the brand new blue running track has recently been completed at the venue and Coe, who also led the organising committee for the London 2012 Olympic Games, predicted stunning performances when the 60,000-capacity venue is packed to the rafters with screaming fans Coe (centre) at the Olympic Stadium with Guimarães (left) and Nuzman (right) (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) Asked if he thought the new track would inspire record-breaking performances, Coe told Rio2016 com: “I sincerely hope so It’s a very fast surface – Mondo is a great provider of tracks and have been our partner for many years So yes, with a full stadium of noisy, passionate track and field fans, the athletes will raise their game and rise to the occasion ‘Unique spirit of Rio will make Olympic Games a success,’ says Coe “It will be a very good event and the message to people is ‘come and watch it’ You will see some of the most outstanding athletes not just of their generation, but in the history of the sport ” Brazilian athletics fans tested their instruments at the test event (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) Coe added that the feedback he had received from the IAAF staff at the test event had been positive “I’ve spent time with our technical delegates and they’re very pleased with how these championships have been delivered for the athletes,” he said “And the great thing about a test event is that you go away and absorb all those things that you need to absorb and learn from over the next 80 days ” Coe took the train from the iconic Central do Brasil station to the Olympic Stadium, a journey which thousands of athletics and football fans will make during the Games Asked about his humble choice of transport, he said to reporters: “I use the train every day, so why not use it to get here?” Coe was hosted at the Olympic Stadium by his two friends from the Rio 2016 organising committee, president Carlos Nuzman and executive director of sport Agberto Guimarães The Englishman shares an important moment of Olympic history with Guimarães – the 800m final at the Moscow 1980 Olympics, in which Coe was beaten into second place by his great rival and fellow Briton Steve Ovett, while the Brazilian finished fourth “We have good memories of that race but maybe it could have been better, for both of us,” said a smiling Guimarães “One place better for the two of us,” joked Coe, before adding: “But we’re too old now to worry about that… it was on black and white television ” Coe and Guimarães enjoyed reminiscing about the Moscow 1980 Games (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) Coe recalled there being “a massive crowd” of more than 100,000 people the Luzhniki Stadium, while Guimarães gave an insight into the huge sense of occasion the Olympic Games provides for athletes “I have never seen a crowd as big as that,” he said “I remember feeling as I entered the stadium that someone was pushing me towards the track, and maybe I wanted to go back ” Coe went on to beat Ovett in the 1500m final in Moscow and to defend that title four years later in Los Angeles, although he was beaten into second place in the 800m again, this time by Brazil’s Joaquim Cruz Guimarães went on to compete at the Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988 Games, but that fourth place in Russia was the closest he ever got to an Olympic podium The duo agreed that the job they do now – “working for the athletes,” as Guimarães puts it – is more important than anything they did in the past, and Coe was eager to praise the Brazilian, saying: “I admire the work Agberto has done here It’s a very tough job, pulling together so many different sports, and there’s a big responsibility on everybody’s shoulders during the Games to deliver something very special for the athletes And I guess for us it’s even more important, as we were athletes and we know how good project management will allow the competitors to compete at the highest level ”