Son of Sheffield Lord Coe backed to tackle doping crisis

The former London 2012 chairman beat Ukrainian Sergey Bubka to the presidency of the International Association of Athletics Federations in a vote at its Congress in Beijing.

Five challenges for Lord Coe

Proud Coe is no stranger to success

The two-time Olympic 1500 metres champion secured the support of the majority of the 207 IAAF member federations who voted, winning by 115 votes to 92.

Coe, who takes office at the end of the World Championships, which get under way on Saturday, succeeds Lamine Diack, the 82-year-old from Senegal who has been president since 1999, and becomes only the sixth president in the IAAF’s 103-year history.

The 58-year-old’s elevation from vice-president comes at a crucial time for the organisation, with allegations of mass doping and cover-ups threatening to ruin the already fragile reputation of the sport.

The Briton, who has been a staunch and unapologetic defender of the IAAF’s anti-doping record, has pledged to set up an independent anti-doping agency for the sport inside his first 100 days in office.

Coe declined to go into the details of how this body would work, saying it was something he had to discuss with his IAAF colleagues over the coming weeks.

But he did admit there was a perception that in-house drug testing created “conflicts” and “loopholes”.

He said: “We do have to recognise that there is too broad a view that this is something, whether real or perceived, (where) there are conflicts and there are loopholes and I think an independent system is what we need to close down any thought that we are doing anything other than being entirely vigilant about that.”

The allegations, including claims the IAAF turned a blind eye to suspicious blood test results from hundreds of athletes, have done serious damage to the credibility of the organisation and the sport as a whole.

The IAAF said on Wednesday it had been target-testing athletes likely to compete in Beijing out of competition over the past six months.

UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner backed Coe to tackle the doping problem head on.

He said: “It’s going to be a multi-year task to demonstrate to the public that the sport not only is clean, but wants to be clean and will be clean in the future.

“It’s an arms race between the cheats and those chasing them and we probably haven’t spent enough and pursued the cheats with enough vigour in recent years.

“Coming from Great Britain where I think our own anti-doping agency is very high class, where the commitment to clean sport is deeply ingrained, I’d like to see the whole of the world have the same ideals and the same vigilance.

“If there’s one person that I know will pursue cheats to all four corners of the earth it is Seb, who’s been passionate about his anti-doping commitment over many years.”

Marathon world record holder Paula Radcliffe added: “You need somebody who loves athletics and wants to fight for the athletes.

“The sport needs a lot of changes. It is being unfairly attacked and vilified at the moment and some of that is because the IAAF hasn’t been totally transparent enough, haven’t talked about things and haven’t explained things. I think that will change under Seb.”

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Five challenges for Lord Coe

Proud Coe is no stranger to success