Coe re-elected as supremo of world athletics on eve of Budapest championships

Former Olympic gold medallist Sebastian Coe was on Thursday elected as the president of World Athletics for a third consecutive four-year term.

Sebastian Coe took over as boss of World Athletics in 2015 when the organisation was called the International Association of Athletics Federations. AP - Martin Rickett

The 66-year-old Briton, who became boss of the governing body in 2015 when it was called the International Association of Athletics Federations (Iaaf), received 192 of the 195 votes. There were three abstentions.

Coe, who claimed gold in the 1500 metres at the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, will serve until 2027.

"I'm grateful for the support of my colleagues,” said Coe who headed the organising committee for the 2012 Olympics in London.

During the 54^th congress of the organisation, Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla and Jackson Tuwei were voted in as vice-presidents and the Colombian former athlete Ximena Restrepo was re-elected as vice president.

Just after he took over from Lamine Diack in 2015, Coe outlined a package of measures to tighten up how the Iaaf was run and to prevent the sleaze and corruption that engulfed his predecessor who ruled the organisation for 16 years.

Coe brought in regulations that would restrict the president to a maximum of three terms – 12 years.

There was also an order for 13 women and 13 men on the 26-member World Athletics Council by 2027.

Equality

That parity had been reached, Coe said two days before the start of the 2023 worrld athletics championships in Budapest.

“I’m delighted to see that more of the commitments we made during the governance reform process in 2016 have come to fruition with the election of World Athletics' first gender equal council four years ahead of schedule," Coe said.

"But the job is not done yet and we need to keep pushing for gender parity throughout our representative bodies. The strength of our sport is in its diversity and that should be reflected in our governance at all levels.”

The presidential vote was overseen by World Athletics' senior vice-president Sergey Bubka, who Coe beat in 2015. 

It was the Ukrainian’s last act before stepping down after 22-years on the governing body’s council.

 The 1988 Olympic pole vault gold medallist and six-time world champion has come under fire over his links with Russia.

That country has been one of the main issues for Coe during his eight years in his post.

Challenge

Coe pushed through a ban on Russian athletes following evidence of state-sponsored doping. The Russian track and field federation was readmitted to World Athletics last March but the country’s athletes remain banned from competitions over the conflict in Ukraine.

Conceding that most of his two terms had been taken up trying to resolve outstanding problems, Coe added: "The first four years of my mandate was making sure the ship didn't sink. We were in a really tough situation,” he lamented.

"The next four years were about dealing with stuff that had been in the inbox for far too long.

"The next four years will focus on what is the product that will future-proof the sport for the next 30 years."

Coe added that World Athletics had to make sure that the range of disciplines in athletics wooed youngsters from all backgrounds.

"It’s important our sport makes decisions fast and these decisions are focused on what it is the next generation are asking of us as a sport and how we capture their imagination in a busy landscape of competing entertainment opportunities, technology trends, life skills and activities," he insisted.

"We need to understand the risks and the trends as both have the potential to pose serious challenges and opportunities to our sport."