72% of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members catch presidential election fever for first time in Lausanne

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The IOC members are in Lausanne for today’s (30 January) 143rd Extraordinary IOC Session at the Olympic House, during which the IOC presidential candidates will deliver their presentations (http://apo-opa.co/4aEAZmY).

THE ATMOSPHERE With two months to the election set for 20 March in Greece, the atmosphere is tense in the Olympic capital, and expectedly so, as campaigning intensifies in these days.

LOOKING BACK AT 2013 It’s been 11-plus years since the last candidate presentations in July 2013, in Lausanne, which featured incumbent President Thomas Bach of Germany and five other candidates; Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Ser Miang Ng (Singapore), Denis Oswald (Switzerland) and Ching-kuo Wu (Chinese Taipei).

2013 ELECTION On 10 September 2013, Bach won the election after two rounds of voting. In the second round he received 49 votes, two more than he needed. His opponents got 44 votes combined: Bubka – 4, Carrion – 29, Miang Ng – 6, Oswald – 5. Wu was eliminated after the first round of voting.

In the first round, Bach got 43 votes, Bubka – 8, Carrion – 23, Miang Ng – 6, Oswald – 7, and Wu – 6. Miang Ng won the round 1 tie-break against Wu 56-36.

NEW FACES Since then, the IOC membership has welcomed many new faces, 80 of which are still IOC members. Hence, 72 per cent of the current IOC members are for the first time facing this critical decision that would shape the future of the Olympic body – in 2021, Bach was re-elected unopposed and members only had to simply vote yes or no.

Among the candidates for this year’s election, only Juan Antonio Samaranch, Prince Feisal Al Hussein and Kirsty Coventry were already IOC members at the time Bach was first elected.

BIG DECISION Amid economic, environmental, security and technological challenges, the IOC members have to decide who among these seven (in order of the draw conducted in November by a Lausanne-based public notary); Prince Feisal Al Hussein (Jordan), David Lappartient (France), Johan Eliasch (Great Britain/Sweden), Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain), Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), Lord Sebastian Coe (Great Britain) and Morinari Watanabe (Japan), will usher in a new era for the Olympic movement.

THE ELECTION The President will be elected by secret ballot for a term of eight years, with the possibility to stand for re-election for a second, four-year term. The term of office of the new IOC President will start on 24 June 2025.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of International Sports Press Association (AIPS).