Lord Coe has been elected as the new president of the International Association of Athletics Federation.
The former London 2012 chairman edged out pole vault great Sergey Bubka in a vote at the IAAF Congress in Beijing on Wednesday.
Coe takes over athletics' world governing body at one of the most difficult moments in its history, but even after being defeated in the vote, opponent Bubka was positive that the election of Coe represents a chance for athletics to shine.
"I know that athletics in the future will grow, and become stronger and stronger," he said.
Hugh Robertson, Minister for Sport between 2010 and 2013 said:
"It is a fantastic result in two ways. It is great for us as a country that our best-known sports leader is now in charge of the major Olympic sport, but in a sense more importantly, it is great for athletics because athletics has got some difficult times ahead and it needs a leader of real stature to guide it through.
"Athletics above all needs a really strong and credible leader, a leader who can grow the sport, because it has slightly lost its way.
"I think Seb's unique blend of experience as an iconic athlete himself and as a sports administrator who has won a bid and delivered a Summer Games, which are the two most difficult tasks in sport, makes him the perfect man at this time for the sport."
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