Athletics: Sebastian Coe elected president of the IAAF, defeating the Ukrainian Sergey Bubka

The Briton Sebastian Coe was elected president of the IAAF at the 50^th congress of the International Association of Athletics Federations, in Beijing (CHN) on 19/08/2015. He succeeds the Senegalese Lamine Diack (82 years old), who had held the position since 1999.

A double Olympic champion in the 1500 meters in 1980 and 1984, Sebastian Coe (58 years old) defeated his opponent Sergey Bubka (UKR) by 115 votes to 92. Currently chairman of the British Olympic Association, he becomes the sixth president of the IAAF since the creation of the body in 1912.

Awarded a life peerage in 2000, Sebastian Coe, who is an advisor to the equipment manufacturer Nike, will begin his initial four-year term at the end of the 15^th World Athletics Championships, held in Beijing from 22 to 30/08/2015.

• Sergey Bubka (UKR) was appointed the first vice-president of the international body.

Sebastian Coe expressed his satisfaction on Twitter, after his election