Sebastian Coe Re-elected as President of IAAF

Doha, September 25 (QNA) - International Association of Athletics Federation President Sebastian Coe was elected for a second term at the 52nd IAAF Congress in Doha on Wednesday, two days ahead of the start of the World Championships. Coe won the votes of all 203 member associations. The congress saw also the election of four vice presidents, and 13 members of the total 50. Ximena Restrepo, Sergey Bubka, Geoffrey Gardner and Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud were elected Vice Presidents. Restrepo, the 1992 Olympic 400m bronze medalist from Colombia, will become the first woman to serve as an IAAF Vice President, the IAAF's website said today. As part of the widespread reforms adopted by the IAAF Congress at the end of 2016, the IAAF added minimum gender targets into its constitution to establish parity at all levels in the sports governance. Coe welcomed Restrepo, who now lives in Chile, as one of the new Vice Presidents and offered his congratulations. "Ximena is a former athlete which is tremendously helpful when you’re driving the sport forward," said Coe. "I am delighted that we have for the very first time elected a female Vice President and that she will be joined by seven other women on council. This is a historic moment." "Im really honored to take this position," said Restrepo. "It’s a great moment for me and for my country. I would like to thank you, Seb, because this was only made possible because of you and the changes made to the constitution. Congress also elected new members of the IAAF Council. The newly elected members are: Hiroshi Yokokawa (Japan), Antti Pihlakoski (Finland), Anna Riccardi (Italy), Nan Wang (China), Adille Sumariwalla (India), Nawal El Moutawakel (Morocco), Abby Hoffman (Canada), Sylvia Barlag (The Netherlands), Alberto Juantorena (Cuba), Willie Banks (USA), Raul Chapado (Spain), Dobromir Karamarinov (Bulgaria), Beatrice Ayikoru (Uganda). The IAAF Council will be composed of 26 members, eight of whom are women. The 13 newly elected members will be joined by six Area Presidents and two members of the Athletes' Commission, one man and one woman, including the Chair. On the sidelines of the elections, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced the temporary suspension of Ahmed Al Kamali for potential violation of the IAAF candidacy rules and integrity code of conduct. (QNA)