World Athletics performs well in the field of parity. The new Board of the international body, elected on Thursday August 17 in Budapest on the sidelines of the World Outdoor Athletics Championships (August 19 to 27), is the first in history to include an identical number of men and women. At the end of the vote, which also saw Sebastian Coe re-elected as President, the 26 seats were equally divided between men and women. World Athletics had set itself the target of achieving parity by 2027. This week’s elections in Hungary have put four more years on the clock. Another new feature is the presence of a woman as first vice-president. Colombian Ximena Restrepo (pictured above), bronze medallist in the 400 m at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, will replace Ukrainian Sergey Bubka on Sebastian Coe’s right. She will share the vice-presidency with Spain’s Raul Chapado, India’s Adille Sumariwalla and Kenya’s Jackson Tuwei. For the rest, the World Athletics Board will be made up of Yuko Arimori (Japan), Anna Riccardi (Italy), Annette Purvis (New Zealand), Nawal El Moutawakel (Morocco), Nan Wang (China), Abby Hoffman (Canada), Nataliia Dobrynska (Ukraine), Sylvia Barlag (Netherlands), Beatrice Ayikoru (Uganda), Willie Banks (USA ), Antti Pihlakoski (Finland), Cydonie Mothersill (Cayman), and Donna Raynor (Bermuda). They will be joined by the six continental confederation presidents and two members of the Athletes’ Commission, one woman and one man.
