MOSCOW: Stanislav Pozdniakov is new president of the Russian Olympic Committee after the 44-year-old defeated Alexander Popov by 214 votes to 56.

Both men are former four-times Olympic champions in fencing and swimming respectively and former athlete members of the International Olympic Committee .

Pozdiankov,  formerly ROC vice-president, had promised some changes in its organisation in his campaign to succeed Alexander Zhukov who had decided not to seek a third term after eight years in the role.

As a further sign of continuity Vladimir Sengleev was re-elected as director-general with Anastasia Davydova as assistant.

Both had been in charge since 2014, the year of the Sochi Winter Games, at the origin of the most resonant doping scandal in the history of Russian sport.

Pozdiankov said: “We will pay the greatest attention to the return of trust in our sport. The full participation of Russia in the Olympic Games is one of our priorities.”

Russia is currently excluded from international athletics competition by the IAAF as is the National Paralympic Committee.

Igor Levitin, an adviser to state President Vladimir Putin, was elected as first vice-president while Yelena Isinbayeva, the former pole vaulter and an IOC athlete commission member, was elected to the executive committee.

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