Sergey Bubka and Sebastian Coe will go head-to-head in their bid to become president of the sport’s world body
Sergey Bubka (Photo: AP)
Beijing: Athletics legends Sergey Bubka and Sebastian Coe will go head-to-head Wednesday in their bid to become president of the sport’s world body, with the winner facing a major overhaul to salvage the doping-tainted sport.
After months of criss-crossing the globe wooing support from the 214 member federations that make up the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Bubka and Coe face the final act in a vast Beijing convention centre.
The 214 members will go to the ballot box to elect the successor to Lamine Diack, the 82-year-old Senegalese who is stepping down after 16 years in charge. Results are expected be out on the same day. Diack has hailed the sporting pedigree of the two candidates: Bubka won Olympic pole vault gold in 1988 for Ukraine and was also a 10-time world champion, while Coe was a two-time Olympic 1,500m gold medallist for Britain in 1980 and 1984.
Coe or Bubka will be taking charge at a pivotal time, as athletics also craves more public and media interest in a world dominated by football and other sports. Insiders predict a very close contest, with hints that Coe may just have edged ahead of his rival.
( Source : AFP )
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