Secret ballots, little time to campaign: Why IOC presidential election is too close to call
7 candidates vying for top job with 3 front-runners but no clear-cut favourite
Just as she used to feel when she'd reach the final 200 metres of a race in the pool, Kirsty Coventry is leaning on adrenaline in the homestretch of her drive to become the International Olympic Committee's first female president.
The seven-time Olympic medallist from Zimbabwe is one of three front-runners to replace Thomas Bach, who's held the top job in global sport since 2013. And even though both Coventry and Bach have downplayed it, many think she is his preferred candidate.
Coventry would also be the first president from Africa and its youngest, at only 41 years old.
"I'm staying focused and staying in my lane," Coventry told a pack of reporters at the Costa Navarino resort in western Greece on Wednesday, a day before IOC members from across the globe will start casting their votes.
Coventry has always loved competition. But one day before a decision that will shape the future of the Olympics for the better part of the next decade, the outcome wasn't clear.
Seven candidates are on the ballot. World Athletics president Sebastian Coe, who's a four-time Olympic medallist on the track, and Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., a vice president on the IOC's executive board, are also considered front-runners.
Tough to call
About 100 IOC members will vote, and they'll cast ballots until a candidate gets the majority of the votes. After each round of voting, the candidate with the fewest votes will be removed from the ballot, making things even more difficult to gauge.
Candidates haven't had much opportunity to make their case to IOC members. Each had the chance to present for 15 minutes in Switzerland in January. The presentations happened behind closed doors and weren't able to be filmed. Members also couldn't ask questions of candidates at that event, something several candidates have criticized.
Asked how he feels about the election, Coe bypassed reporters on Wedneday morning.
"I'm still here," he said with a smile.
Working with Trump
Samaranch, meanwhile, told reporters he had no idea how many votes he might get. It's easy, he said, to confuse a nice word with a vote. With a secret ballot, people can do as they please.
Asked if he's been thinking of his late, namesake father, who held the IOC presidency from 1980 to 2001, Samaranch said he needed to focus on the future.
"I'm very confident for tomorrow," he said. "I have to be optimistic. That's my nature. Otherwise I would not be here."
While Bach's tenure has been marked by a global pandemic, war in Ukraine and a Russian doping scandal, to name just a few crises, the next president will have their share of choppy waters to navigate.
WATCH | Who will be the next IOC president?:
Climate change, war and political tensions top the list, though the books seem to be in good shape. A report introduced at the IOC session on Wednesday showed commercial revenue grew from $2.9 billion US in the period beginning in 2001, to $7.7 billion ending in 2024.
Another big piece of that pie should be in place for years to come. The IOC announced a U.S. rights deal with NBC last week worth $3 billion.
But one wildcard in the United States awaits the next IOC president: navigating relations with U.S. President Donald Trump.
French candidate David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union, said he would work with Trump for the good of the games, noting that Trump has always said he supports the 2028 Games in L.A.
But Lappartient also stressed that the IOC must remain politically neutral and would not make a political decision when it comes to any changes involving the inclusion of transgender athletes. Last month, Trump signed an order restricting the rights of transgender women to compete in female categories of sport in his country.
At the IOC level, each international federation has been left to make their own policies. Lappartient can see that changing.
"The feelings I have with discussions with all my colleagues in the IOC, I think there is probably a majority behind the idea to have a decision from the IOC," he said on Wednesday.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer at the centre of controversy last summer, also stood up to Trump this week, according to an Associated Press story about an interview Khelif did with British broadcaster ITV. She said his comments on the issue will not intimidate her from going for another gold medal in L.A. in 2028 because she is not transgender.
"I will give you a straightforward answer: the U.S. president issued a decision related to transgender policies in America. I am not transgender. This does not concern me, and it does not intimidate me. That is my response," Khelif said in excerpts of the interview that were released ahead of the broadcast.
It's a distinction Bach has emphasized this week, too. In interviews with CNN and The Associated Press, Bach said a Russian disinformation campaign was to blame for the controversy around the boxers, stemming from the IOC's suspension of the Russian-led International Boxing Association.
The other candidates on the ballot include International Ski and Snowboard Federation president Johan Eliasch, IOC executive board member Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and International Gymnastics Federation president Morinari Watanabe.
Watanabe's platform proposes what may be the most radical idea of the campaign: holding the Olympics in five cities over five continents at the same time, which would turn the Games into a 24-7 event.
IOC members voted for Bach to become an honourary president for life when he steps down in June. Bach, who became emotional when the idea was proposed by the IOC's executive board, will be the second honourary president in the organization's history.
The honour, which will not give Bach a vote at future IOC meetings, is reserved for someone who has "rendered exceptional services as president of the IOC."
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
With files from The Associated Press
