IAAF President Lamine Diack was awarded an Honorary Doctorate on Wednesday by the Beijing Sports University.

Diack, who is currently here watching the 11th IAAF World Junior Championships, expressed his delight at receiving this honor on behalf of the entire World Athletics Family.

"Although I am extremely proud of being held in high esteem by an academic community known for its commitment to excellence, I am fully aware that the aim of their acknowledgement, reaches far beyond the boundaries of personal recognition," said Diack.

"It is an encouragement to remain deeply rooted in the pursuit of human well being through sport and the values and ideals it enshrines in the minds of young people all over the world," he added.

Diack, who has been associated with sports for over 40 years, paid tributes to the university for its efforts in sports education.

"Through the curricular and extramural activities of this university, we can easily perceive its willingness to achieve one of the ultimate goals of education, which is to help human beings live up to their potential ability to learn, think, act and adapt themselves to the conditions of their environment, whatever they may be," said the 73-year-old Senegalese.

"Not only does Beijing Sport University develop high standards of learning, but it lays equal emphasis on teaching, research and high performance training, which are the basis for the widely recognized competence of their scholars and graduates.

"On a similar note, Beijing Sports University, which currently hosts the IAAF Regional Development Center, is a driving force in the IAAF's strategy to achieve universality, both within the framework of the IAAF Athletics World Plan and on a daily basis."

(Xinhua News Agency August 17, 2006)