IOC Prez Candidates Arrive in Greece, Boxing OK for LA28
By Ed Hula
The long farewell of IOC President Thomas Bach is underway as he convenes his final session after 12 years at the helm of the world’s leading sport body. His successor to be chosen in three days will come from a field of seven contenders who have all arrived in Costa Navarino, Greece.
The meetings take place at the Romanos Resort, 300 km southwest of Athens on the shoreline of the Ionian Sea. By car, the journey takes three and a half hours. That creates a huge logistical challenge for the hundreds heading to the meeting, most after long airplane journeys from points around the globe. This is the off-season in sunny Greece, and the proof can be found in the weather: breezy conditions with lows of 6c and highs near 16c are forecast.
Tougher to predict is the outcome of the vote for a new president on Thursday. While the seven candidates have held media interviews over the past few months, the rules governing the race limit any comparisons, endorsements, debate or campaigning except for one-to-one contact with members. The only speeches to the members came January 20 when all gathered in Lausanne for presentations held behind closed doors. None will be heard in Greece ahead of the March 20 vote.
Three candidates are believed to command the most attention from the 100 or so members expected to attend the session. Two of the favorites — Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe and Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain — are members of the IOC Executive Board, which met Monday on the eve of the session open. Another of the seven contenders, Jordanian Prince Feisal Al Hussein, is also a board member but is considered a long shot.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe may have the longest Olympic resume as a gold medalist and chief of the London 2012 Olympics. That celebrity has made him one of the three favorites. But Coventry is regarded as the favorite of Bach and a protégée of his presidency. She became an IOC member at the same 2013 IOC session Bach took office. Her election would be of great note globally as the first woman to be elected IOC president.
Asked at a press conference Monday, Bach did not directly dispel any links to Coventry’s aspirations. But his terse summation of where he sees the IOC going perhaps speaks volumes. “New times need new leaders,” he said.
It would be notable if Samaranch were elected. He would follow his father, president from 1980 to 2001. Nonetheless, Samaranch has eschewed mentioning his father, instead emphasizing his own 24 years of experience on the IOC. Just 17 of the 109 current IOC members served while the senior Samaranch was president.
Other candidates include cycling federation chief David Lappartient, ski federation president Johan Eliasch and Morinari Watanabe, the president of the gymnastics federation. However, none of the three, along with Coe, have yet to serve on the Executive Board. Of the nine previous presidents, all have had stints on the EB.
The 15-member EB met Monday in Greece in a meeting well short of the normal full day. The topline from the meeting would be the recommendation of the board that would keep boxing remain on the program for Los Angeles in 2028. IOC members will be asked to approve a new federation for the sport. World Boxing was formed two years ago to replace the International Boxing Association, which was officially defrocked in 2024 over issues involving governance, finance and ill will that grew from the suspension of IBA in 2019.
IOC members will journey to Ancient Olympia for the ceremonial open of the 144th session on Tuesday. It promises to be a long day, with two hours of driving each way from Costa Navarino. The ceremony is set for 3pm in the ruins of the ancient Games. It will be the biggest gathering ever of IOC members at the site. It will also be the site of Bach’s final speech opening an IOC session.
He will stay in office until June 23, when his successor will take the oath. Speaking at a press conference after the EB meeting, Bach said the three-month transition will be better for the new chief. When he was elected in 2013 Bach says the transfer was immediate from Jacques Rogge.
“I did not appreciate it,” he sourly noted Monday. He says he would have welcomed time to meet staff and other principals of the IOC. While it is not specified in the Olympic Charter, the new president customarily takes over soon after election. Bach says he has the backing of the EB, and noted that transitions at the top of large businesses or governments are common practice.
Written by Ed Hula
With contributions from Coasta Navarino by Mara Xenou and Brian Pinelli
Editing by Sheila Hula