Athletics: Five facts about Sebastian Coe, new IAAF president

Sebastian Coe was elected the new president of the International Association of Athletics Federations on Wednesday. PHOTO: AFP

BEIJING - Sebastian Coe, was elected the new president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Wednesday (Aug 19). Here are five facts about the former Olympian.

1. Coe, 58, won Olympic 1,500m gold at both the 1980 and 1984 Games. He also claimed two Olympic silvers in the 800m. In his career, he set eight outdoor and three indoor world records in middle-distance track events, and his world record in the 800m stood from 1981-1997.

2. The Briton served as a Conservative MP for Falmouth and Cambourne between 1992 and 1997, but he lost his seat in 1997 election.

3. Made a life peer in May 2000, London-born Coe headed the successful bid by the British capital to host the 2012 Summer Olympics and became chairman of the London Organising Committee for those Olympic Games.

4. He was elected vice-president of the IAAF in 2007 and was re-elected for a second four-year term in August 2011.

5. Coe was named the first chairman of world football body Fifa's independent watchdog, Fifa's ethics commission, in 2006 but stood down to join the English committee that failed in its bid to bring the World Cup to England in 2018.

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