The Race for the IOC Presidency Begins
by Philip Barker
Two double Olympic gold medallists are among the seven candidates for President confirmed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the election of a successor to Thomas Bach.
Bach confirmed during the Paris Olympics that he planned to stand down next year.
World Athletics President Lord Coe, who won 1500m gold in 1980 and 1984 is the first British candidate since Lord Burghley, Marquess of Exeter 60 years ago.
Like Coe, the Marquess also led World Athletics (formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations).
Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry who won 200m backstroke gold at the 2004 and 2008 Games is the only woman in the list. She served on the IOC Executive Board (EB) whilst head of the Athletes Commission.
Her fellow EB member Juan Antonio Samaranch was elected to the IOC in 2001. He was first elected Vice President in 2016 and returned to the role in 2022.
Since the inception of the EB in 1921, all subsequent IOC Presidents had previously served as a member.
Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan has been an IOC member since 2010 and an EB member since 2019.
The other candidates are all leaders of international sports federations.
Swedish-born Johan Eliasch, now listed as British in IOC records, is President of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and was elected to the IOC “linked to that function” this year.
He is the only winter sports representative in the list but two other International Federation candidates have also declared their intention to run,
International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) head Morinari Watanabe is the only candidate from Asia. He joined the IOC in 2018 and also served on the board which organised the Tokyo Olympics.
International Cycling Union (UCI) President David Lappartient became a member of the IOC only two years ago. He is bidding to become the first Frenchman to be IOC President since Baron Pierre de Coubertin.
The seven leadership candidates will not be permitted to speak about their candidacy until a special meeting of IOC members to be held in January 2025 behind closed doors.
The election is to be held in March 2025 at the IOC Session in Greece. It is almost exactly a century after Coubertin stood down from the Presidency during the 1925 Session held in Prague.
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