IAAF Presidential Candidate Sergey Bubka Launches Manifesto

Sergey Bubka has launched his manifesto for election to the Int'l Association of Athletics Federations presidency, "pledging to provide the most thorough athletics review ever," according to the BBC. Bubka will run against British Olympic Association Chair Sebastian Coe to succeed President Lamine Diack in August. The Ukrainian has proposed holding more athletics events in public spaces. Bubka said, "We have an opportunity to go closer to the public. This can be on squares, in streets, in shopping malls." The proposed examination of "every significant element of our sport" would "focus mainly on restructuring the global events calendar and the federations' rules and by-laws." Other aspects of Bubka's manifesto include "using more technology, such as biometric chips and cameras, a focus on youth and creating more school-level competitions," creating a position of IAAF CEO to "help share the workload of the general secretary" and promoting mixed gender competitions (BBC, 4/8).