Zero tolerance for drug cheats, Sebastian Coe vows after winning IAAF election

New president of athletics' governing body, who beat rival Ukrainian Sergey Bubka in ballot to head body, faces difficult task to restore reputation of track and field

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Newly elected president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, Sebastian Coe, listens to a question at a news conference in Beijing. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30pm, 19 Aug 2015Updated: 10:32am, 20 Aug 2015

Sebastian Coe vowed “zero tolerance” for drug cheats in track and field after winning a narrow vote to become the new president of world athletics body the IAAF on Wednesday.

Coe pipped Ukraine’s Sergey Bubka 115-92 in the vote at the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) congress in Beijing, but he has a tough task ahead of him.

With a series of doping controversies at the top of Coe’s agenda when he takes office after the world championships which start in Beijing on Saturday, the Briton said he and his new team would be “vigilant” in their crusade against cheats.

IAAF outgoing president Lamine Diack with his newly elected successor Sebastian Coe arrive for a press briefing in Beijing. Photo: AP

“There is a zero tolerance to abuse of doping in my sport and I will maintain that to the very highest level of vigilance,” said Coe, who won Olympic 1,500m golds at the 1980 and 1984 Games.

“I don’t want the thought that trust and integrity are only something that are rooted in challenges around doping in sport or doping in track and field. There is a universal problem with that in sport and we recognise that and we’ve been the lead role for that as long as I’ve been in the sport.

“That’s something I’m very proud of, that’s something I’ll very happily defend, how we approached that.”