Seven candidates, including former British Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and Frenchman David Lappartient, will run in March 2025 to succeed German Thomas Bach as head of the International Olympic Committee, the IOC announced on Monday.
Bach, who has headed the international body since 2013, announced after the Paris Olympics his intention to hand over the reins.
Coe is the head of World Athletics and was the organiser of the London 2012 Olympics.
Lappartient is for his part president of the International Cycling Union and the French Olympic Committee. Coe, double Olympic champion of the 1,500 m, has on his side his sporting aura, a media surface reinforced by the power of the English-language press, as well as a long career as a manager.
Other candidates to have officially declared themselves are Jordanian Prince Feisal al Hussein, former Zimbabwean swimming champion Kirsty Coventry, British-Swedish Johan Eliash, head of the International Ski Federation, Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, son of the former emblematic head of the IOC and Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation.
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