Sebastian Coe, World Athletics President, elected as IOC member

World Athletics will be represented on the IOC for the first time in five years

By Reuters

Image: Sebastian Coe is now a member of the IOC

World Athletics president Sebastian Coe has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), ending the sport's five-year absence from the body.

Coe, a double Olympic 1500 metres champion, was elected during an IOC session.

He was nominated last month pending proof he had stepped down from an active role in a consultancy firm.

The athletics body has not had any representation within the IOC since the departure of Coe's predecessor Lamine Diack in 2015 amid a corruption scandal and subsequent trial.

For decades, membership of the IOC for the head of athletics was almost automatic.

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The IOC, however, had denied membership to Coe, a federation vice-president under Diack and British sporting great, saying there was a potential conflict of interest with his consultancy post.

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