Hicham El Guerrouj of Morocco celebrates winning the 1500m final (© Getty Images)
Twelve athletes have been elected as members of the IAAF Athletes Commission following a four-day election procedure along which all accredited athletes were invited to vote for their own peers.
Among the 26 candidates, Ethiopia’s Haile Gebrselassie received the highest number of votes (733) followed by Morocco’s Hicham El Guerrouj and Debbie Ferguson of the Bahamas.
400m Hurdler Stéphane Diagana of France came in fourth with 611 points a mere point ahead of the Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic who successfully defended his 400m Hurdles world title 24 hours ago.
Also elected were Paul Tergat, Deon Hemmings, Irina Privalova, Jolanda Ceplak, Sonia O'Sullivan, Paula Radcliffe and Fraj Ibrahim Ismail.
Results of elections:
Nation First Name Last Name TOTAL VOTES
1 ETH Haile GEBRSELASSIE 733
2 MAR Hicham EL GUERROUJ 654
3 BAH Debbie FERGUSON 633
4 FRA Stephane DIAGANA 611
5 DOM Felix SANCHEZ 610
6 KEN Paul TERGAT 575
7 JAM Deon HEMMINGS 553
8 RUS Irina PRIVALOVA 482
9 SLO Jolanda CEPLAK 475
9 IRL Sonia O'SULLIVAN 475
11 GBR Paula RADCLIFFE 465
12 QAT Faraj Ibrahim ISMAIL 460
NUMBER OF ACCREDITED ATHLETES: 1907
NUMBER OF ATHLETES VOTING: 1021
NUMBER OF SPOILT VOTES: 38
NUMBER OF VALID VOTES: 983
NUMBER OF SEATS AVAILABLE: 12
NUMBER OF CANDIDATES: 26