Monaco, Dec 5 (IANS): Jon Ridgeon, who twice represented Britain in the Olympics, is to take up his new role as IAAF chief executive officer in March 2019, according the IAAF website.

"I am delighted to be joining world athletics at this exciting time and look forward to working with Seb, a strong team and all our member federations across the globe." Ridgeon said, reports Xinhua news gency.

Ridgeon, 51, started out as an athlete competing in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles between 1984 and 1996.

He is former British record holder and silver medallist in the 110m hurdles in the 1987 World Championships in Rome. He also represented Britain in 1988 Seoul Olympics and 1996 Atlanta Games.

The IAAF said on its website that Ridgeon, a successful businessman in sports fields now, was "responsible for transforming British Athletics in 1998 to the most commercially successful athletics governing body in the world, which included brokering multi-million pound sponsorship and broadcast deals. He was also one of the architects of the IAAF Diamond League Series."