New IAAF president Lord Sebastian Coe vows to fight doping

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Lord Coe reflects on the tough job of tackling doping as he begins his IAAF presidency.

Lord Sebastian Coe has revealed his determination to stamp out doping, speaking on his first day as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations.

The former Olympic 1500m champion was voted in over Ukraine's ex-Olympic pole vaulter Sergey Bubka on August 19 at a meeting in Beijing ahead of the World Championships in the Chinese city.

Lord Coe, formerly the IAAF's vice-president, succeeded 82-year-old Senegalese Lamine Diack as head of the sport's world governing body.

With the sport clouded in a controversy due to allegations of widespread suspicious blood test results, Coe said he would reform athletics in his manifesto with a "zero tolerance to the abuse of doping". On Sunday he outlined his strategy on his opening day in power.

In a statement, the 58-year-old said: "I am very excited and proud to have been given an opportunity to lead our great sport into the new era that lies ahead.

"A working group has been set up to look into the possibility of establishing a new over-arching integrity unit for athletics which would house an anti-doping operation with greater independence and have access to a newly formed independent tribunal to hear doping cases of international level athletes (and support personnel).

"This will be done without impeding or in any way delaying investigations currently under way.

"These are exciting times for athletics and I am delighted to be in a position to help the sport break new barriers."

Coe is the sixth IAAF president since its creation in 1912 and the second from the UK after Lord Burghley, who was in charge from 1946 to 1976.

With the World Championships wrapping up this weekend, Coe paid tribute to the "wonderful" event in Beijing.

He added: "The stadium has been full over nine days, morning and evening, with an energetic and enthusiastic crowd who have been enthralled by the world's greatest athletes."

On his values in the sport, Coe stated: "Athletics has been at the centre of my life since I was a young boy. Everything I am today can be credited to my experiences and successes in this sport.

"My mission now is to enhance the sport's ability to inspire and entertain. Athletics is about sporting performance and success but also about values which have the strongest ethical foundations."