Olympic pole-jumping champion Ukrainian Serhiy Bubka is to run for the post of president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"This is a special day in my life. Yesterday I told IOC President Jacques Rogge that I'm going to run for the post of IOC president. Today I announce it in public," Bubka said during the press conference on Tuesday.

"I started my international sports career here, in St. Petersburg, when I qualified for the world championship in Helsinki in 1983, and that's why here I would like to announce my candidacy for the post of IOC president," the IOC press service quotes Bubka as saying.

He also added: "I'm happy that I dedicated all of my life to sport. Since childhood I dreamt of becoming an Olympic champion, and my dream came true. For my whole life I was lucky to be involved in sports in various roles: as an athlete, as the head of my own sport club, who gave opportunities for development of young athletes, as a businessman, as a member of the International Olympic Committee, as vice-president of the International Association of Athletics Federations, and as a UNESCO ambassador. I'm sure that all this weighty experience gave me a strong platform for further progress."

The candidate for the president's post also said that fighting doping and match fixing will be the main directions of his work at the new post if he is appointed.

He said he feels a great responsibility in upholding the legacy of present IOC President Jacques Rogge.

"We should work to multiply the legacy Jacques Rogge leaves us, and the one passed to us by Juan Antonio Samaranch. I understand the responsibility of my steps. And if the IOC entrusts me to be president, I'm ready to work 24 hours a day for the success of the Olympic movement," the Ukrainian sportsman said.