She intends to stand to succeed Sebastian Coe
\n TOKYO
\nFormer Colombian sprinter Ximena Restrepo has told AFP in an interview that she intends to stand to succeed Sebastian Coe and become the first woman to lead World Athletics.
\nRestropo, already the first vice-president of track and field\u2019s global body, could have had her chance this year if Coe had succeeded in his bid to become International Olympic Committee president.
\nBut with former swimmer Kirsty Coventry winning that contest, Coe is free to serve out his third and final term at the head of the Olympics\u2019 number one sport.
\nRestrepo, 56, said on the sidelines of the world athletics championships in Tokyo that she would be a candidate to succeed the Briton when the time comes.
\n\u201cI\u2019m going to run for president. It won\u2019t be easy. I already know there are two other candidates who are going to run and who are very good, but it would be something I\u2019d like to do,\u201d she said.
\n\u201cIt gives me a lot of motivation, it motivates me to do it. We have to start working toward that.\u201d
\nIn the battle to entice new followers to athletics, Coe and Restrepo are pinning their hopes on a new event next year in Budapest, the World Athletics Ultimate Championship.
\nThe aim is to create an international competition in a year without a global championships.
\nExtra pressure has been added to the event by the financial problems that have rocked Michael Johnson\u2019s upstart Grand Slam Track circuit this year, with reports suggesting it owes millions of dollars in prize money to athletes.
\n\u201cI think it\u2019s going to be very important. Next year we didn\u2019t have any major events, and having the Ultimate Championship is a great way to close out the season, for both athletes and fans,\u201d Restrepo said.
\nThe Colombian, who won a bronze medal on the track in the 400 metres at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, said fans will have \u201cthe best in the world in three days\u201d and predicted it will \u201cattract new fans to our sport\u201d.
\n\u201cThere won\u2019t be a limit on the number of representatives per country, as there is at the world championships, for example,\u201d she added.
\n\u201cThe athletes won\u2019t have to go through as many rounds, there will be less wear and tear, and the prize money will be bigger than at the world championships.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
She intends to stand to succeed Sebastian Coe TOKYO Former Colombian sprinter Ximena Restrepo has told AFP in an interview that she intends to stand to succeed Sebastian Coe and become the first woman to lead World Athletics. Restropo, already the first vice-president of track and field\u2019s global body, could have had her chance this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-503648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n