Athletics: Sebastian Coe, Sergey Budka elected as IAAF VPs

Melton Williams, Gleaner Writer



Former Olympic gold medallists, Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka, have been elected as vice-presidents of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) during the congress in Daegu, South Korea.



Five men were in the running for four positions. Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar and Robert Hersh of the US were the other two persons voted in.



A second vote was required to decide the four successful candidates following a malfunction in the electronic voting system caused the body's president Lamine Diack to order a revote.



Initially, former Ukrainian pole-vaulter and gold medallist at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul Bubka missed out on election to Canadian Abby Hoffman.



Bubka was voted in via a manual vote following the system error.



Coe, a two-time Olympic gold medal winner over 1500 metres, dismissed suggestions of foul play and insisted it was purely a glitch that caused the re-vote.



Senegalese chief Diack was re-elected as president unopposed, with a majority of 169 to 29 after a second ballot.



melton.williams@gleanerjm.com