Bubka Becomes Sixth Candidate for IOC Presidency

Sergey Bubka has announced he is running for the President’s role at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today at the SportAccord Convention in Russia.

The 1988 Olympic pole vault gold medalist confirmed the news in St Petersburg and said: “St Petersburg is a very important place for me. 30 years ago in this beautiful city I started my sports career. That’s why I considered this city a good place to announce my candidacy and the beginning of a new journey in my life.

“I always loved sport. Sport is in my blood, in my genes. Experience as an athlete and as an Olympian also means a lot.

“Our future target is to engage the youth to stay with the Olympic movement. To learn how to build friendships and to have ethics.”

The Ukrainian joins Germany’s Thomas Bach, Singapore’s Ng Ser Miang, Taiwan’s C K Wu, Puerto Rica’s Richard Carrion and Switzerland’s Denis Oswald in the race for the IOC hot seat.

Bubka won a record six world titles and set a total of 35 world records, making him the greatest pole vaulter in history.

He went on to say that if he was successful he would continue to fight against doping and match-fixing, in what he described as ‘one of the biggest challenges’ in world sport.

Bubka also paid tribute to current President Jacques Rogge when he commented: “Who doesn’t remember the past, doesn’t have a future. So we must remember to keep the legacy of president Rogge and his predecessor.

“I will work 24 hours a day for the success of the Olympic movement.”

Bubka was elected as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2000 and was a member of the ruling Executive Board until 2008, before being re-elected last year.

He is currently the Vice-President of the International Association of Athletics Federations and the President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

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