Adille Sumariwalla becomes the first Indian to be elected to World Athletics Executive Board
Athletics Federation of India chief Adille Sumariwalla has become the first-ever Indian to be elected as the Executive Board member of World Athletics. The former Indian Olympian has been elected as one of the vice presidents of the World Athletics.
The 65-year-old received the third-highest number of votes in the World Athletics elections, which took place two days before the World Championships. After the evaluation, the appointment took place on Thursday, August 17.
Adille Sumariwalla will sit as one of the four vice presidents of the Athletics governing body, World Athletics, for the next four years. As a member of the World Athletics Executive Board, he is one of the highest decision-making officials in the global organization.
Notably, a pool of eight candidates voted for the presidential election and the officials with the highest number of votes were selected as the vice president. The other three vice presidents are Ximena Restrepo, Raul Chapado, and Jackson Tuwei. Raul Chapado is an eight-time Spanish National champion in the triple jump, while Jackson Tuwei is the President of Athletics Kenya.
Among the three officials, Ximena Restrepo, who was the first Colombian to clinch a medal in the Olympics, has been re-elected as the vice president. The 54-year-old won a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympic Games.
The middle-distance legend Sebastian Coe has been elected as the president of the world body at the 54th World Athletics Congress. This is the third and final term as president for Coe.
Adille Sumariwalla's accomplishments
Adille Sumariwalla is a former Indian Athlete, who won the gold medal in South Asian Games in 1984. Notably, he was the national record holder for 18 years in the 100m sprint. He has also represented India in the Olympics.
Sumariwalla has been a council member for World Athletics since 2015. Notably, in 2019, he was re-elected to the World Athletics Council body as a member. He has also been the President of the Indian Athletics Federation and Vice President of the Indian National Olympic Committee.