Monday 21 March 2016 22:28, UK
Lord Coe says he is concerned that Great Britain's athletes are "hiding" rather than taking part in important global events.
The IAAF president and middle-distance great was speaking after a new-look British squad suffered their worst result at a World Indoor Championships in a decade.
The 23-strong party for Oregon was without a string of big names as athletes opted to concentrate on preparing for the Olympics in Rio in August.
And a squad of 23 flew home with just three medals and failed to claim a gold for just the second time since 1997, finishing joint-16th in the medal table.
And Coe, twice an Olympic gold medallist himself, said: "I want to see more athletes competing. I think some athletes are hiding away from competitions.
"And there is no antidote to competition, there really isn't. You are not going to get it on the training track. You are not going to get it at a Diamond League, where you are just following a pacemaker.
"You do need to learn the craft. These are events you do have to use to give your athletes the experience.
"I worry that the formative learning years, particularly in middle distance, are being lost on occasions like this.
"Nobody, at the end of your career, cares if you have won a Diamond League. At the end of a career your performances at championship level define you."
Britain did not even field an athlete in the men's 800m, which Coe also considered a concern.
"I like to see middle distance and it's disappointing not to see 800m runners here," he added. "I find that a bit painful.
"I'm afraid you can't look much beyond coaching in this area. I don't know if we've got enough good middle distance coaches out there.
"We must remember - and this is the sobering thought - that Mo (Farah) is an outstanding athlete but, if you go beyond him, you have performances that are slower than 40 years ago."
