The former London 2012 chairman beat Ukrainian Sergey Bubka to the most powerful position in world athletics, as he was elected as the new president of the IAAF in a vote at its Congress in Beijing on Wednesday.
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British former Olympian Sebastian Coe has been named as the new head of world athletics governing body, the worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
He described taking on the new role as ” probably the second biggest and most momentous occasion in my life” after the birth of his children – ranking it even above his notable successes on the track. “Seb is someone who is one of the greatest runners in history, but also one of the most honest, open-minded, and grounded people I’ve met”, Benjamin said.
USATF has had the opportunity to work especially closely with Lord Coe over the last three years, and we have been impressed with his vision for the sport, his dedication to its cause and his demonstrated effectiveness as a leader.
With setting of world records at a premium in its flagship event, world athletics body, IAAF, announced a special bonus of $100,000 for breaking old marks in the upcoming 15th edition of the World Championships to be held at Beijing from August 22 to 30. Whether that be Bolt back to his best – word from his training camp is that he is set to run 9.6sec pace for the 100m and 19.4sec for double the distance – or that means gold medals from Britain’s list of athletes: Farah, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Jessica Ennis-Hill or Greg Rutherford remains another matter.
Bubka had also stood for re-election as IAAF vice president and the pole vault great from Ukraine was duly voted in to the post along with Qatari Dahlan Al-Hamad Cameroon’s Hamad Kalkaba Malboum and Cuban Alberto Juantorena.
The election took place amid a public relations crisis for the IAAF, which was accused of failing in its duty to address the scourge of doping.
Reedie welcomed the election of Sebastian Coe to the IAAF presidency this week, saying his fellow Briton was a “convinced anti-doper” who would be a powerful ally in the battle against the use of banned substances in sport. “We have no lessons to be taught by any other sport”.
“I do 3,000 tests per year and I have 200 tests positive and 2,800 that are negative”.
“I don’t blame media for doing what they do; we have to react to it and I think we have reacted to it pretty sensibly, particularly in the creation of an independent commission to look at it”, he said.
“I’ve had the joys of Olympic competition, I’ve had the joys of being part of something special in London a few years ago, but this for me is the pinnacle”, he said.
Lamine Diack, the outgoing president of the Worldwide Affiliation of Athletics Federations, is “satisfied 99 per cent of athletes are clear”, regardless of a raft of doping scandals.
“How I combine that is something that I’ve always managed”. He loves this sport and he is very experienced and he will do his job.
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“We have been pushing for his (Gayle’s) representation internationally, and Garth is a highly recognised technical officer, so it’s really good that he got on to the technical committee and I am really happy for that”.
