Sergey Bubka will stand for the IAAF vice-presidency, as well as President ©Sergey Bubka

Sergey Bubka has given his first indication that he fears he will not beat Sebastian Coe in the election to replace Lamine Diack as President of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). 

The Ukrainian has also put himself forward for election as one of the four IAAF vice-presidents at the election in Beijing on August 19, it was announced today. 

As had been widely expected, Bubka and Coe are the only candidates to stand to replace Diack, who is stepping down after 16 years in the role. 

Nawal El Moutawakel, the former Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion, had been touted as a possible candidate but ruled herself out last year.

Unlike Bubka, Coe is standing only for President which means, if he loses, then he will no longer have any position within the IAAF. 

Bubka, who is already a vice-president, along with Coe, is one of seven nominations.

They include Qatar's Dahlan Al Hamad, who is also a serving vice-president, and France's Bernard Amsalem, Canada's Abby Hoffman, Cuba's former double Olympic champion Alberto Juantorena, Cameroon's Hamad Kalkaba Malboum and Kenya's Isaiah Kiplagat.  

There will be two new vice-presidents as, besides Coe who will give up his position, America's Robert Hersh, the senior vice-president, is not seeking re-election.

Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan is among the candidates for a position on the IAAF's ruling Council
Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan is among the candidates for a position on the IAAF's ruling Council ©Getty Images

There are four candidates, led by Germany's Clemens Prokop and Spain's Jose Maria Odriozola.

Others standing are Geoffrey Robert Gardner, from the Norfolk Islands, and Wang Fei Tang, from Singapore. 

Competition for places on the IAAF ruling Council is set to be fierce with 40 nominations for nine individual places and 10 seeking the six individual female places, including Ireland's Sonia O'Sullivan, the Sydney 2000 Olympic 5,000m silver medallist. 

There will also be elections for the IAAF Technical, Women's, Race Walking and Cross Country Committees. 

Those seeking election for the first time on the Cross Country Committee include Britain's Paula Radcliffe, the 2001 and 2002 world champion in the discipline. 

To see the full list of candidates click IAAF election candidates.pdf



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