British former Olympian Sebastian Coe has been named as the new head of world athletics governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), CNN reports.

Coe, who won four Olympic medals, including two golds, as a middle distance runner, headed London's successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

A former lawmaker, he became a life member - known as a lord - in the upper house of Britain's parliament in 2000.

The IAAF confirmed that Coe, previously a vice-president, had become their sixth president at the 50th IAAF Congress in Beijing on Wednesday, beating rival and former Ukrainian Olympic pole vaulter Sergey Bubka in the final vote.

"I am deeply honored that our sport has placed its trust in me. There is no job I want to do more -- nor with greater commitment," Coe was quoted on the IAAF website as saying.

Coe's appointment comes at a turbulent time for the athletics body, as it battles doping allegations.

Earlier this month, Britain's Sunday Times and German broadcaster ARD revealed they had access to a leaked database containing more than 12,000 blood tests from 5,000 athletes from 2001 to 2012.

Leading experts concluded that these that these revealed an "extraordinary level of cheating" in the sport.

However the IAAF denies athletics is suffering a similar crisis to professional cycling's culture of doping when the sport was bedeviled by extensive drug-taking and accusations of top-level coverups in the 1990s and 2000s.