Former world-class runner Sebastian Coe has been elected President of the World Athletics Federation for the third time. The 66-year-old Briton received 192 of the 195 votes with three abstentions in Thursday’s election in Budapest – 98.5 percent. Coe, who has led the association since 2015, was the sole candidate for the post. He has now been elected for the last four years until 2027.
APA/AFP/Glyn Kirk
He was “deeply honored,” Coe told delegates at the Hungexpo Convention Center. “We’ve got a lot of unfinished business to do — let’s get this baby home.”
The election was chaired by Sergei Bubka, the main vice-president. It was the last official act before his resignation after more than two decades in the association’s leadership. The 59-year-old, who ran against Coe in 2015, did not stand for re-election this time after criticism for his ties to Russia. Bubka gave up the post of President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine some time ago.
Coe, two-time 1500-meter Olympic champion and head of organization for the 2012 Summer Olympics, had not recently positioned himself on his medium-term plans. The last term of office of the German IOC President Thomas Bach ends in 2025; Coe is considered a possible successor.
