Coe to head track and field governing body

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Coe to head track and field governing body

Published: 19 Aug. 2015, 21:00

BEIJING - Sebastian Coe has won a four-year term as president of the governing body for track and field, beating Sergei Bubka in an election Wednesday. He has been given the mandate to restore the image of the IAAF amid a doping controversy.

The 58-year-old Coe won the election by 115 votes to 92 and will replace Lamine Diack, who stood down after 16 years.

Coe, a two-time Olympic champion and chairman of the London 2012 organizing committee, reportedly traveled 700,000 kilometers (435,000 miles) during the campaign and, unlike Bubka, was nominated for the top job without the fallback option of vice-president, meaning he would have lost influence within the IAAF if he’d lost the poll.

AP