Former double Olympic 1,500m champion and London 2012 chair Lord Coe has been named the new president of athletics world governing body IAAF.
Coe beat rival candidate Sergey Bubka – a former Olympic pole vault champion – by 115 votes to 92 at the 50th IAAF congress in Beijing, held ahead of this month’s Athletics World Championships.
The former Conservative MP replaces 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack, who has been in charge for 16 years. Coe becomes just the sixth president of the IAAF in its 103-year history.
One of Lord Coe’s first tasks is to tackle accusations that athletics is rife with doping, following revelations made in the UK media earlier this month.
As part of his manifesto for the presidency, Coe has pledged more resources for anti-doping and an independent unit to oversee testing practices.
Speaking after his election, Coe said: “I’m delighted and humbled by the confidence shown in me by the IAAF family - thank you, now the hard work begins.”
"It has been a long road. I joined an athletics club when I was 11, I had the joys of Olympic competition and I the joys of being able to put on one of the greatest sporting events ever, but this for me is the pinnacle, it's my sport, it's my passion, it's the thing I always wanted to do.”
Coe will take office on 31 August, after the end of the IAAF World Championships
