Pierre Weiss was named acting General Secretary of the IAAF at governing body's Council meeting today in Osaka, Japan.

Weiss, who has been the IAAF's General Director since 1991 overseeing events and marketing, will replace Istvan Gyulai, who died earlier this month after a long illness. Weiss will maintain the role until the IAAF Congress meets in Osaka in August 2007 just prior to the World Championships.

Speaking at the meeting, IAAF President Lamine Diack said, "We mourn the passing of an exceptional colleague who, by the very nature of his position of course, but, beyond that, by his intelligence, his sense of duty, his managerial skills and the unerring quality of his work, was the lynchpin of the day to day operations of the IAAF." Gyulai, a former journalist and Olympic sprinter, was the organization's General Secretary since 1991.