IOC presidential election LIVE: Seb Coe bids for Olympic throne in fiercely contested seven-way vote

[ASFN Admin]

You must be registered for see images attach

Seb Coe is bidding to become the most powerful figure in sport today as he runs to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC president holds dominion over the Olympic movement and acts as dealmaker and diplomat handling world leaders desperate for the dose of soft power that comes with hosting an Olympic Games.

Lord Coe is one of seven candidates on the ballot paper and he is among the frontrunners alongside Juan Antonio Samaranch – the son of the influential IOC president of the same name between 1980 and 2001 – and the Zimbabwean former swimmer Kirsty Coventry, bidding to become both the first woman and first African to lead the IOC.

The 109 members – a mix of royalty, billionaires, sports executives and Olympians from around the globe – have gathered in the luxury Costa Navarino resort in Greece to cast secret votes. The candidate with the least votes will be eliminated round by round, and a president will be elected once one candidate wins a total majority.

Follow the news and latest updates from the IOC presidential election below.

IOC presidential election​

• The 109 IOC members are gathered in Costa Navarino, Greece to vote for next president
• Seb Coe among the frontrunners up against Juan Antonio Samaranch and Kirsty Coventry
• Prince Feisel Al Hussein, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient and Morinari Watanabe also on ballot
• Online smear campaign shows dark side to fierce race for power
• First round of voting set to begin at 2pm GMT

Meet the candidates​

13:11 , Lawrence Ostlere
FRONTRUNNER: Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), 41, decorated Olympic swimmer and minister for sport in Zimbabwe who serves on the IOC’s executive board .

Public endorsements are strictly forbidden but it is an open secret that Bach’s preferred successor would be the sole female candidate on the ballot, the former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry, Africa’s most decorated Olympian with eight medals.

Coe and Coventry are the only Olympians among the seven candidates, but Coventry is much younger at 41, and her relative youth combined with her recent role on the IOC Athletes’ Commission should give her the backing of the small but growing group of recently retired athletes in the membership, like American sprinter Allyson Felix. All of the candidates cheered about “athlete empowerment” during their campaigns, but when it came from Coventry, the message carried real weight.

The IOC has sought to redress the gender balance among its membership in recent years and the influx of women could play into Coventry’s hands as she seeks to become the first female president. Though if she needed evidence of just how hard that might prove to be then she need only look at the IOC’s own web page explaining this election, which already assumes the president will be a man based on the subheadline: “When will the new IOC President start his term?”

You must be registered for see images

Meet the candidates​

12:59 , Lawrence Ostlere
FRONTRUNNER: Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr (Spain), 65, an IOC vice-president whose father was the president from 1980 to 2001.

Samaranch is a serious contender in this election and is widely respected among the membership. He has served on a raft of Olympic commissions and is a current IOC vice-president, and he is expected to have strong backing across Europe and the Americas. He is a smooth operator and multi-linguist, skilfully illustrated last month when the Spaniard flipped between English and French in his candidacy speech.

What stands as both a blessing and a curse is the legacy of his father, Juan Antonio Samaranch Snr,a godfather figure at the IOC who served as president between 1980 and 2001. His reign oversaw giant growth for the Olympic movement, but a damaging corruption scandal emerged on his watch and he embroiled himself in controversy with lavish spending.

While the Samaranch name still carries an undoubted gravitas in the Olympic world, one member questioned the optics of installing the seventh president’s son as the 10th president of the IOC. “It’s not a family company,” they joked.

You must be registered for see images

Meet the candidates​

12:48 , Lawrence Ostlere
FRONTRUNNER: Lord Coe (Britain), 68, president of World Athletics, the Olympics’ biggest sport.

Coe is a highly respected and influential player with a proven track record of winning major campaigns after masterminding London’s victory over Paris to host the 2012 Games. But in the corridors of the IOC’s headquarters he is a divisive figure. Coe has been openly critical on a range of issues, such as Russian sanctions, and his outspoken approach has often ruffled feathers, so much so that he is actively loathed by some senior IOC figures. Incumbent president Thomas Bach would rather Coe not win the race.

A disputed incident was Coe’s announcement last year that gold medalists in track and field events at the Paris 2024 Olympics would receive a $50,000 prize. The move caught the IOC off guard and left some figures furious that Coe was “playing solo”, even if he was entitled to do so. It is said that Coe has struck a notably open and receptive tone in discussions with members over recent weeks, as he bids to make up any lost ground. Coe has plenty of backers but he may need to win over some detractors if he is to claim the presidency.

You must be registered for see images

How does the voting work?​

12:41 , Lawrence Ostlere
The 109 members will electronically cast a vote for their preferred candidate. All members must be physically present and no proxy voting is allowed.

The winning candidate must secure more than 50 per cent of the votes for an overall majority. If a majority isn’t achieved in the first round of voting, then the candidate with the least number votes is eliminated, and six candidates go through to the sixth round where votes are recast. The process goes on until one candidate wins more than 50 per cent of the total votes in a given round.

The only members who cannot vote are compatriots of candidates in the process. So, for example, the other three French members of the IOC cannot until David Lappartient is eliminated for the process. However, the candidates themselves can, and do, vote for themselves. Honorary members cannot vote.

The winning candidate will serve an eight-year term, with a possible renewal of four years.

You must be registered for see images attach

Who gets to vote?​

12:34 , Lawrence Ostlere
The 109 voters in the exclusive invited club of IOC members include royal family members, former lawmakers and diplomats, billionaires and business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes. There is even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh.

They will vote without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that should swing on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.

When is the vote?​

12:25 , Lawrence Ostlere
The election to decide the next president of the IOC takes place this afternoon at the luxury Costa Navarino hotel resort in Greece.

Voting is set to begin at around 2pm GMT, with an outcome likely to be delivered at some time before 3pm, depending on how many rounds of voting are required.

IOC presidential election – live​

12:18 , Lawrence Ostlere
The strongest candidates in a hard-to-call contest seem to be IOC vice president JuanAntonioSamaranch and a pair of two-time Olympic gold medalists, SebastianCoe and KirstyCoventry.

Also in the race are PrinceFeisalalHussein of Jordan and three presidents of sports governing bodies: JohanEliasch of skiing, cycling's DavidLappartient and MorinariWatanabe of gymnastics.

You must be registered for see images attach

IOC presidential election – live​

12:07 , Lawrence Ostlere
A new president of the IOC will be elected Thursday, just the 10th leader in its 131-year history after one of the most open Olympic elections in decades.

The winner will get an eight-year mandate with key issues including steering the Olympics on a smooth path in politics and sports toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and picking a host for the 2036 edition. That could go to India or the Middle East for the first time.

Voting by about 100 eligible International Olympic Committee members is scheduled to start at 4 pm (2pm GMT). The result should be known within 30 minutes.

Seven IOC members are on the ballot chasing an absolute majority of votes for victory at a resort hotel near the site of Ancient Olympia.

You must be registered for see images

IOC presidential election – live​

11:50 , Lawrence Ostlere
Hello and welcome along to live coverage of the election for the next president of the International Olympic Committee. Who will succeed Thomas Bach as the most powerful figure in sport? We will find out soon enough.

Continue reading...