From Inside the Games
Sebastian Coe is set to be re-elected as President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) unopposed after the deadline for nominations closed with him as the only candidate.
The 62-year-old Briton, elected in 2015, will now serve a second four-year term following the election, due to be held in Doha in September before the IAAF World Championships.
Coe was the only nomination for the top position when the deadline passed at midnight on Tuesday (June 25).
Sergey Bubka, Ukraine’s Olympic pole vault gold medallist and former world record holder, who had stood four years ago to succeed Lamine Diack, had been talked of as a possible contender but has decided not to challenge Coe.
The double Olympic 1500 metres gold medallist had beaten Bubka at the election in Beijing by 115 votes to 92.
Coe’s first term has been dominated by the Russian doping crisis and corruption allegations involving Diack.
Diack was arrested by French authorities in November, shortly after his 16-year term as IAAF President ended, on allegations of covering up positive drugs tests involving Russian athletes in return for cash.
Later that month, the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) were suspended following publication of a report from International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Richard Pound into allegations of state-sponsored doping.
The suspension against the RusAF has since been extended 11 times.
Russian athletes were forced to miss the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
Since then they have been allowed to compete as “Authorised Neutral Athletes” providing they meet a strict set of anti-doping criteria.
