The radical plan to wipe out athletics’ world records set before 2005 was not a cowardly proposal, a senior member of the sport’s governing body  has said.

Paula Radcliffe

Olivier Gers  was responding to criticism from Britain’s  Paula Radcliffe, the women’s marathon world record holder, who stands to lose her place in the record books if the root-and-branch idea goes ahead.

“I am not sure what’s cowardly about this,”  said Gers, chief executive of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

“It’s a sad reality of our sport that we are doubting some records.

“What it allows us is to reset the bar. It’s a very difficult decision.”

He continued:  “I think cowardly is a very strong word for our proposal.”

Radcliffe, who ran a record time of 2hr 15min 25sec in 2003, has slammed the idea from European Athletics as administrators of the scandal-ridden sport try to make a clean break from previous doping scandals.

The 43-year-old Radcliffe, a British long-distance running icon, said in a statement on May 1 that the proposal was not only “cowardly” but could “damage her reputation and dignity”.

Gers was speaking in Qatar ahead of this season’s athletics curtain-raiser, the opening Diamond League event of the season in Doha on Friday.

The record proposal received a mixed reaction from athletes in the Gulf for the season opener.

One of the potential main beneficiaries from any change — the womens’ Olympic 100m and 200m champion, Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson — advocated a mixed approach.

The world records in both of her events were set by America’s  Florence Griffiths-Joyner  back in 1988.