GENEVA — Sebastian Coe, Two former Olympic winners are running for president of the International Olympic Committee. So is a prince from a Middle Eastern monarchy and the son of a previous president. The world’s best in cycling, gymnastics, and skiing are also competing.
The International Olympic Committee announced on Monday a list of seven potential candidates to run for president in March, succeeding outgoing president Thomas Bach for the next eight years.
Solely one woman, Zimbabwean IOC executive board member Kirsty Coventry, competed to lead an organization that has solely had male presidents throughout its 130-year history. Eight of the presidents were from Europe, with one from the United States.
Coventry and Sebastian Coe have won two gold medals in swimming and running, respectively. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan also serves on the IOC board.
Sebastian Coe Among 7 IOC Members To Enter Race To Succeed Thomas Bach As President
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., an investment banker from Spain, is one of the four IOC vice presidents. His father served as president for 21 years, until 2001.
David Lappartient is the president of cycling’s regulatory body, Molinari Watanabe is in charge of gymnastics, and Johan Eliasch is the president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Coe is the president of World Athletics.
All seven met a Sunday deadline to write a letter of intent to Bach, who must leave office next year after serving the full 12-year term. Bach declined to pursue IOC rule changes at the Paris Olympics last month to remain in office longer.
The next president’s term will include hosting the Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 and Brisbane, Australia, four years later. The IOC has many major issues, including selecting a host for the 2036 Olympics — with India and Qatar in the running — assessing the impact of climate change on the global sports calendar, and renewing the U.S. television arrangement, which has been a cornerstone of Olympic financing.
A formal candidate list should be announced in January, three months before the March 18-21 election in Greece, on the site of ancient Olympia.
Only IOC members are eligible to run as candidates, with the rest of the Olympic body’s 111 members casting their ballots.
The International Olympic Committee is one of the most exclusive clubs in international sports. Its members include European and Middle Eastern nobility, international sports body officials, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians, and diplomats, as well as industrialists, including billionaires such as Eliasch.
It makes for one of the most quiet and unusual election campaigns in sports history, with members barred from publicly promoting their candidate.
Campaign restrictions for candidates include a ban on broadcasting films, organizing public gatherings, and participating in public debates. They are likely to release manifestos before the IOC holds a closed-door meeting to address voters in January in its home city of Lausanne, Switzerland.
The top post at the IOC ideally requires extensive knowledge of sports management, an appreciation of athletes’ requirements, and quick global political skills.
The president leads an organisation that generates billions of dollars in revenue from broadcasting and sponsorship deals during the Olympic Games and employs hundreds of people.
Coe has been universally regarded as the most qualified contender. He was a two-time Olympic champion in the 1,500 meters before becoming an elected MP in Britain in the 1990s. He also oversaw the bidding and organising committees for the 2012 London Olympics and has presided over World Athletics for nine years.
However, he has disagreed with the IOC, Bach, and other sports leaders on a number of issues, notably his strong stance against Russia on state-sponsored doping and the invasion of Ukraine, coe as well as the decision to pay $50,000 cash rewards to track and field gold medallists in Paris.
“The International Olympic Committee must prioritise a laser-like concentration on sport. In a statement released Monday, Coe stated, “I believe I can help achieve this and more.”
However, he may face legal challenges in fulfilling his eight-year tenure. The IOC’s membership age restriction is 70, and Coe will be 68 on election day. The regulations allow for a special exemption to continue for four more years, but this would result in a six-year presidency unless the restrictions are adjusted.
Coventry, who turned 41 on Monday, previously served as Zimbabwe’s appointed sports minister.
Sebastian Coe Among 7 IOC Members To Enter Race To Succeed Thomas Bach As President
Anita DeFrantz, a former Olympic rower from the United States, was the only woman to run for president of the International Olympic Committee. She was defeated in the first round of voting in a five-candidate contest in 2001, which was won by Jacques Rogge.
Samaranch, who turns 65 in November, is the candidates’ longest-serving member, having joined in 2001 when his father stood down. The Spanish official would also want an extension to the IOC’s age limit.
Lappartient is also the president of France’s national Olympic committee, which has built on the success of the Paris Summer Games. He oversees a French Alps initiative that has been chosen to host the 2030 Winter Games, and Bach has appointed him to supervise a long-term project signed in Paris that will see Saudi Arabia host the Esports Olympic Games until 2035.
Eliasch is perhaps the most surprising contender, having been chosen as an IOC member in Paris less than two months ago. The Swedish-British owner of the Head sportswear company received 17 “no” votes, which is unusually high in Olympic politics.
SOURCE | AP
