Focus is on reinstating Russia, says IAAF`s Sebastian Coe

Rio de Janeiro: World athletics chief Sebastian Coe on Wednesday said the body was now focused on reinstating Russia after its suspension over a doping scandal, as he blasted its "cataclysmic failure" to protect athletes.

"Our focus now has to be on the reinstatement of that federation," the IAAF president told journalists during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

He added: "Russia has let down their athletes... this was a catacylsmic failure to oversee and protect those athletes."

Coe was speaking ahead of the track and field competition at the Rio Olympics, which will be without Russia after it was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Revelations of a state-sponsored doping prompted calls for Russia to be banned from the Games altogether, but the International Olympic Committee allowed Russia to compete with a reduced team.

Coe said he hoped that fans would believe they are watching clean athletes at the Olympics, despite a row over the admission of competitors who have previously failed drug tests.

"I genuinely hope that they feel that what they`re watching is competitors doing what they`ve been given a god-given talent to do, and they`re doing it cleanly," he said.