OSAKA (Japan), Aug 22: Lamine Diack was voted into a final term as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Wednesday, with former athletics stars Sebastian Coe and Sergei Bubka becoming vice-presidents.

Diack, backed by the pair, must try to reconnect the sport with the youth currently lured by soccer, basketball or armchair entertainment.

“The really important issue is uniting the sport at the youth level. We have to find a more creative way to reach out to young people,” Coe said.

Diack, a native of Senegal who took over the presidency in 1993, ran unopposed when the IAAF Congress held elections ahead of the world championships, which open on Saturday.

In the race for four vice-presidency seats, Britain’s Coe and Ukraine’s Bubka were elected from six candidates. Alberto Juantorena of Cuba withdrew ahead of the election.—AP