The IOC will soon choose its new figurehead. A president whose election will inevitably be marked by the question of relations with Russia.
In June 2025, the German Thomas Bach will leave the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after twelve years at its head. His successor will have been elected three months earlier, following an election played in the shadows and a lot of lobbying behind the scenes. She will decide between seven candidates, including one woman: the former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry, protégé of Thomas Bach for years, who could thus become the first female president of the IOC. But analysts estimate the chances of male candidates higher.
David Lappartient, the wily president of the International Cycling Union, is also said to have won the favors of Thomas Bach, while Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, son of the former IOC president, has a large network. The Briton Sebastian Coe, president of World Athletics, has extensive experience in the international sporting world and is especially pushed by the Anglo-Saxon media. Certainly, Coe is too old (68) to serve a full term as IOC president, but this issue can be resolved. The double Olympic 1,500 meter champion’s biggest fault is being in permanent opposition to Bach. The latter will do everything to sink his candidacy. Not to mention Coe is also on Russia’s blacklist…
Since becoming president of World Athletics in 2015, the Briton banned Russian athletes from international athletics competitions. Lappartient and Juan Antonio Samaranch see things differently. If he becomes the new president of the IOC, the Spaniard even wants to immediately reconcile with Russiawhich was only able to send “neutral” athletes to the Paris Games.
Russia is already anticipating it: with Mikhail Degtyarev, the new president of the National Olympic Committee, also Minister of Sports, it has strongly tempered its offensive tone towards the IOC and the Western sporting world. The objective: to be (fully) reintegrated into the biggest competitions, notably the Olympics, as quickly as possible. The verdict will depend on the outcome of the March election.
Belgium
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