Sebastian Coe has been unanimously re-elected for a second term as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) just two days before the World Athletics Championships opens in Doha on Friday.
The 62-year-old was returned to his post by all 203 delegates at the governing body’s 52nd congress in Doha.
Coe was first elected President of the IAAF in 2015 after chairing the organizing committee for the 2012 Olympic Games in London and while serving as the chairman of the British Olympic Association.
Prior his first election, the IAAF was in chaos as a result of far-reaching corruption allegations including damaging charges of links between outgoing president Lamine Diack, his influential son Papa Massata Diack, and a Russian cover-up of a state-sponsored doping conspiracy.
Consequently, most of Coe’s first four years in office has been spent on dealing with controversies surrounding doping and recently, new rules governing testosterone levels in female athletes.
“It’s been a tough four years, the first two were the reforms — the second two years were really making sure they were implemented,” Coe said.
The former two-time Olympic champion is looking forward to having fun in the next four years and wants “the sport to grow.”
Meanwhile, Colombia’s former 400 metres runner Ximena Restrepo was voted the first female vice-president of the IAAF, joining Sergey Bubka, Geoffrey Gardner and Nawaf bin Mohammed al Saud beneath Coe.
