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(Sports Focus) Sebastian Coe elected as new IAAF president

Xinhua, August 19, 2015 Adjust font size:

Britain's Sebastian Coe was elected as new IAAF president at the 50th IAAF Congress here on Wednesday.

Coe, a former Conservative Party lawmaker and a member of the House of Lords, a two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion and chief organizer of the 2012 London Olympics, beat Ukrainian pole vault great Sergei Bubka and won the vote 115-92 in the IAAF election held on the eve of the world championships in Beijing.

Former president Lamine Diack, who's been at the helm for 16 years, left with the track and field's international governing body under intense criticism following media allegations that it failed to act on evidence of widespread blood doping.

While both candidates called for an overhaul of the way the anti-doping program is run, the 58-year-old Coe was more forceful against critics by describing the accusations as a "declaration of war".

German broadcaster ARD and Britain's The Sunday Times newspaper reported earlier this month that one-third of medals in endurance races at the Olympics and world championships were won by athletes who have recorded suspicious blood readings. Endi