There were no unpleasant surprises for Dobromir Karamarinov (pictured above). The 65-year-old Bulgarian leader was re-elected for a new four-year term as president of the European Athletics Association. He beat his only rival, the Czech Libor Varhanik, by 28 votes to 21. Appointed interim president in 2020 to replace Svein Arne Hansen, who suffered a heart attack, Dobromir Karamarinov was confirmed in his position the following year in an election in which he ran unopposed. He will lead European athletics until 2027. During the same General Assembly, held in Belgrade, Serbia, the continental body opened a new page in its history by appointing two vice-presidents. Britain’s Cherry Alexander and Sweden’s Karin Grute Movin were elected to the post, as was France’s Jean Gracia. The statutes provided that, for the first time, the four highest offices (President and Vice-President) would be held by two representatives of each sex. Finally, the 13 members of the Council were elected: Slobodan Brankovic (Serbia), Frank Carreras (Gibraltar), Raul Chapado (Spain), Anne Farseth (Norway), Marton Gyulai (Hungary), Tia Hellebaut (Belgium), Anna Kirnova (Slovakia), Jürgen Kessing (Germany), Stefano Mei (Italy), Gvantsa Mikeladze (Georgia), Antti Philakovski (Finland), Erich Teigamägi (Estonia), and Aleksandra Vojneska-Zikova (North Macedonia). The day after the election, Jean Gracia was re-elected for a new term as First Vice-President of European Athletics. He won by a narrow margin, 23 votes to 22, against his rival, Antii Pihlakoski from Finland.
