Sebastian Coe has been re-elected to lead track and field's governing body for another four years. Ahead of the world championships opening Friday in Doha, Coe was unopposed at the IAAF congress in Qatar to continue in the presidency he first assumed in 2015.
A double Olympic 1,500-meter champion who organized the 2012 London Olympics, Coe has overseen Russia being suspended from the IAAF. It was one of the toughest sporting sanctions by a sports body against the country for corruption and systematic doping.
The ban was extended by the congress yesterday, meaning it will be the second straight world championships where the only Russians competing, 30, will do so without their country's flag or uniform. That is 11 more Russian neutral athletes competing than the 2017 world championships in London. IAAF election day started with the Athletics Integrity Unit suspending one of the vice presidential candidates, Ahmed Al Kamali of the United Arab Emirates, for potential violations of the code of conduct.
The IAAF elected its first female vice president, with the vote won by Ximena Restrepo, the sprinter who collected Colombia's first Olympic medal in athletics at the 1992 Barcelona Games. The other vice presidents are Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, Geoffrey Gardner of Norfolk Island and Prince Nawaf Bin Mohammed Al Saud of Saudi Arabia.
