Sergey Bubka Promises Review of Athletics if He Wins IAAF Presidency

April 2, 2015

by Christian Radnedge

Taking a lead from president Thomas Bach and his Agenda 2020 review, International Olympic Committee member Sergey Bubka has promised a review of athletics if he is elected president of the International Association of Athletics Federations later this year.

Entitled Vision 2025, Bubka promised this week that his proposal would try and get the athletics world to work together “to build a stronger sport for the future”.

The Ukrainian, who announced his intention to stand in January, goes up against fellow IAAF vice-president Seb Coe in the race to succeed Lamine Diack as president at the federations Beijing congress in August.

“‘Vision 2025’ will be the most thorough review ever taken into every aspect of Athletics worldwide and will be based on collaboration with the Athletics Family from the very beginning,” Bubka said in a statement.

“Its aim will be to identify and examine every significant element of our sport and determine how it can be improved to ensure we are in the best possible shape for the future.”.

In a similar vein to Agenda 2020, Bubka’s Vision 2025 will see a number of working groups formed to cover a wide array of issues involving leaders and experts from athletics and other sport, along with national federations.
The findings of the working groups will then be reviewed at an IAAF congress alongside what Bubka’s camp promised to be a “revamped World Athletics Gala”.
The new version of the event will apparently include a celebration of athletics for every member nation and provide recognition for smaller member federations.
Bubka’s latest announcement comes as he begins to increase the profile of his bid to become president, having had a shorter period in which to campaign than his rival Coe who announced his intention to stand last November.{jcomments on}