IAAF presidency: Mo Farah and Eilidh Child believe Sebastian Coe can save

The Ukrainian former pole vault world record holder, who was beaten 115 votes to 92 by Coe on Wednesday (August 19) before being successfully elected to one of the four vice-presidential positions, returned home the day after the vote.

Coe, who takes office at the end of the World Championships, which gets under way on Saturday, succeeds Lamine Diack, the 82-year-old from Senegal who has been president since 1999, and becomes only the sixth president in the IAAF’s 103-year history.

“It’s a tricky problem to deal with but we constantly continue to discuss matters and introduce new measures”, he said in his opening remarks to the 50th IAAF Congress. “It is my sport, it’s my passion, it’s the thing that I’ve always wanted to do”.

“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”.

“How I combine that is something that I’ve always managed”.

The election took place against the background of a public relations crisis for the IAAF, which was accused of failing in its duty to address the scourge of doping.

Coe launched a passionate defence of the IAAF against what he described as a “declaration of war” on his sport after allegations from German broadcaster ARD/WRD and the Sunday Times that blood doping was rampant in athletics.

“We have a new president elect and, at this time when I leave, I say I leave behind a sport that is marvelous, with handsome performances”, Diack said.

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

There is no doubt athletics remains dear to Coe’s heart and he is a passionate and dedicated supporter, independent of his administrative roles both past and present.

“This is my life“.

“The white-haired generation has done what it could, and now over to the black-haired generation“, he said. There is a need to set up a fully independent anti-doping tribunal and Coe must facilitate this.

“For most of us in this room, we would conclude the birth of our children are the biggest moments in our lives”, said Coe, the Olympic gold medallist in 1980 and 1984.

Twenty-eight track and field athletes were suspended by the IAAF last week after samples from the 2005 and 2007 world championships were retested, although they have yet to name and shame the athletes implicated due to legal reasons.

London 2012 was a huge feather in his cap and while the Olympics, on the face of it, were an enormous success, Coe – true to Ovett’s words – has evaded any subsequent criticism that his “Olympic legacy” promise – amid falling participation numbers in sport in Britain – was largely nothing more than a smart soundbite.

Coe said he was now better equipped than ever to understand the needs of the sport after flying more than 700,000 kilometers around the world to canvas support for his election bid among the sports federations.

Meanwhile, Coe called the reports “sensationalizing” and an attempt to “destroy the reputation of the athletes and our sport”.