Sebastian Coe is not yet president of the IOC. He may never be. But the Briton has already planned his succession in the event of victory next March in the vote for the presidency of the Olympic body. He explained this to the media at the end of the World Athletics Council meeting on Wednesday 4 December in Monaco: his place would be taken by the first vice-president, Colombian Ximena Restrepo (photo above). "Our governance is very clear that this role, in the event of a vacancy at World Athletics and bearing in mind that there would be a transition period of three and a half or four months, would be assumed by the first vice-president. So it would go to the very capable Ximena Restrepo, explained Sebastian Coe. We have a very clear guideline on this issue. We know exactly what would happen. » Ximena Restrepo, 55, won the bronze medal in the 400m at the Barcelona Games in 1992. Now based in Chile, she became first vice-president of World Athletics in August 2023. She replaced Ukrainian Sergey Bubka in this role.
