Sebastian Coe became the sixth president in the history of the IAAF

Beijing, Aug 19, 2015: The poll promised very tight. Undecided through, provided the rumor. Its result, however, has left no room for doubt. Sebastian Coe became, in Beijing Wednesday, August 19, the sixth president in the history of the IAAF. The Briton beat his Ukrainian rival, former pole vaulter Sergey Bubka, with a wider gap than expected: 115 votes Coe, 92 Bubka. Nothing to say.

“One of the highlights of my life,” admitted a Sebastian Coe visibly very moved at the time to get on the podium, just minutes after the announcement of the result. Before suggesting, addressing the meeting: “Dear friends, there is no task in my life to which I have been so well prepared.There is no function that I wanted more than that. “

Launched for months in an endless campaign, the two candidates were entitled to only 5 minutes on Wednesday morning to put the end point. The draw was called Sergey Bubka was the first to speak. The Ukrainian seemed nervous, forcing smiles, without reciting a speech fluency memorized. He discussed his passion for athletics, stressed the need to reach youth, hammered the requirement of zero tolerance in the fight against doping. Serious but éclat.A his defense, the former pole vaulter spoke English, not really his native language.

Sebastian Coe has followed closely. More comfortable, the Briton was able to talk to the federations, i.e. the voters, ensuring a calm voice that the development of athletics to play with them, by their side, not only from the offices Monaco IAAF. Then he reminded those who have forgotten, how many were successful, profitable and legendary London Games in 2012. His London Games. His work.

These few minutes of presentation were they decisive? Judging by the score, certainly not.Sebastian Coe won the bet before even mount the rostrum. His campaign had provided most. His bid team, led by the influential Mike Lee, head of the agency Vero Communications, had tightened the last bolt.

By promising to allocate to the national federations half of the income paid by the IOC under the Olympic Games, the British brushed voters in the direction of hair growth.

Barely elected, Sebastian Coe has complied with a certain expertise to the rules of the press conference. He recalled his past in athletics since its inception runner in 11 years in a neighborhood club, thanked his campaign team, with which he has accumulated by plane “700 000 kilometers since last Christmas,” praised Lamine Diack, his “spiritual president,” and assured that he would fight for “zero tolerance” on the issue of doping.

Sebastian Coe has promised to be a president of the IAAF full time, determined to further expand the cobweb of a Federation that has gained two new members, Kosovo and South Sudan. “Our product is athletics, but our activity is that the show,” suggested the Briton, before explaining that he wanted to change the international calendar to make it more understandable to the general public.

For Sergey Bubka, the blow is hard. Largely defeated in 2013 for the presidency of the IOC, the Ukrainian cash a second straight loss. The day before, he said he was confident. Its own calculations gave the winner. But, as so often in such circumstances, some of his supporters had also promised their votes to his British rival. Just can he console himself with one of the four vice-president, a ballot where the French Bernard Amsalem was flunked, garnering 108 votes in the second round. Sergey Bubka has obtained 187 votes. He beat the Qatari Dahlan Al-Hamad (159), Cameroonian Hamad Malboum Kalkala (115) and the Cuban Alberto Juantorena (111).