Ukraine's Sergei Bubka (centre) talks to reporters after his election as a vice-president of the IAAF at its congress meeting in Osaka, Japan, yesterday. - AP

OSAKA, Japan (AP):

Lamine Diack was voted into a final term as president of the International Association of Athletics Federations yesterday, with former athletics stars Sebastian Coe and Sergei Bubka becoming vice-presidents.

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

"The really important issue is uniting the sport at youth level. We have to get more creative ways to get 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 Saturday.

Vice-presidency race

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.

The vice-presidency is seen as a stepping stone to vie for the presidency when Diack retires in 2011. Coe, who is chairman of the organising committee for the 2012 London Games and Bubka are seen as the early favourites.

"Really, genuinely, it is not even a discussion point," said Coe. The 2011 election will coincide with the busiest time for Coe as he will be busy with Olympic preparations.

Bubka too, refused to say he would run for the top post in athletics.

"I am happy where I am," he said.

Diack was confirmed with 167 votes to nine.

Among the 192 valid votes for the vice-presidency, Bubka won 167, Robert Hersch of the United States had 141, Coe finished with 137 and Dahlan Al-Hamad of Qatar had 129.

Germany's Helmut Digel and Puerto Rico's Amadeo Francis failed in their bids for the post.

While former middle-distance great Coe and pole-vault champion Bubka add star appeal, Hersch has the legal expertise and Al-Hamad brings the voice of Asia, the sport's key market for expansion.

"If you look, one of the biggest opportunities to broaden the sport is in Asia," said Coe. "That is a very important signal to have Dahlan at the table," he said.

"The nice thing about the four that got elected is that we all come with complementary and quite different skills.