IOC candidates for president unveil plans

The Manila Times

IOC candidates for president unveil plans   The seven candidates for the world's most powerful job in global sport -- the presidency of the International Olympic Committee -- unveil their plans and vision for the Games in a brief presentation to the IOC membership on Jan. 30, 2025. The members, who were not allowed to ask any questions, will elect a new Olympic leader for an eight-year term on March 30 at their session in Greece. The candidates are World Athletics chief and former Olympic champion Sebastian Coe, multiple Olympic swimming gold medallist Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe's sports minister, as well as Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch, son of the late former IOC president. International cycling chief David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, Olympic newcomer and multimillionaire Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski Federation, and Watanabe complete the candidates' lineup.   AGENCY POOL/REUTERS   Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe    Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net    Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion    Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital    Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein    #TheManilaTimes  #tmtnews  #olympics  #olympiccommittee

Transcript

00:00I enjoyed this morning's process. I hope I was able to communicate my love for the movement

00:17and the history that I hold very dear in that movement. It's something that I genuinely

00:23feel I've been in training for, for the best part of my life, or at least since the age

00:30of 11 when my father bought me my first pair of running shoes, he became my coach and remained

00:35my coach for the remainder of my career and the inseparable role my mother played in all

00:42that as the essential counterbalance in the equilibrium of any family. I hope I was able

00:50to convey that, but I'm also hoping that I was able to convey the core pillars of my manifesto,

01:00my commitments, my pledges and that I think that we have an extraordinary opportunity to build

01:10another lustrous chapter in the future of this extraordinary movement. Engaging, exciting,

01:20and challenging tomorrow's generation is going to be critical because it's that cohort that is

01:32ultimately going to be your future sponsors, your future thought leaderships, your future

01:39governments, your future politicians and we need to create amongst that group of people a lifelong

01:46bond for sport so even if they don't remain in sport as coaches, administrators, communicators,

01:53we at least have the opportunity for them to assume leadership roles wherever they are and

02:00really fundamentally understand the nature of sport and it is only that way that we will raise

02:06sport to the top of government agendas. I hope that what I've been able to do is communicate

02:13my passion and my commitment and my love for the Olympic movement and the games and all the

02:19things that we know they have the most profound catalytic impacts on, but I'm too experienced to

02:30think that that an election is anything other than not a particularly scientific experiment.

02:40I have known President Bach since I came into the IOC and I think being a fellow athlete we

02:48share a lot of commonalities, a lot of common ideas and philosophies, but in this

02:55race he's a president, he doesn't have a vote, or he has a vote but he doesn't vote, he chooses not

03:01to vote and I do very firmly believe that he is being very fair to all candidates. First and

03:10foremost I want to be the best candidate to win not just because of my gender or from where I

03:15come from and I believe I've got a lot of expertise to bring to this role and to

03:22leading the organization. When I was stepping into my ministerial role seven years ago I was

03:30pregnant with my first baby girl and had to quickly learn how to navigate and be a woman

03:37with a career as well as a mom and a wife and everything else and it can be done. I'm very lucky

03:43to come from Africa because culturally we know and we firmly believe that it takes a village to

03:48raise a child so I have incredible support with my husband, with my family and with the people

03:53around me and I have only ever been successful because of a good team and the strength of that

03:59team and that will continue in this leadership role. As a female athlete you want to be able to

04:08walk onto a level playing field always. It's our job as the IOC to ensure that we are going to

04:14create that environment and that we are going to not just create a level playing field but we're

04:19going to create an environment that allows for every athlete to feel safe. That is our job. Along

04:27the road we're going to learn lessons and we're going to get stronger and we're going to make

04:31better rules and regulations. I think that we are in after the Paris Games and after 12 years of

04:38President Bach very important presidency that had to deal we had to deal with so many complications

04:44and so many threats we managed to get the organization to move and evolve at a rapid

04:51pace in according to the times. What I'm trying to say is that rapid pace of change that we

04:57implemented is no way near enough to what is coming. The rate of change is going to continue

05:04to accelerate and our obligation is to continue to accelerate those changes so it's basically I

05:09think we have a very important base very solid base from the past but the recipes of the not of

05:15the ancient past the recipes of yesterday will not make it in the future so that is our main

05:22objective our main obligation. I felt very good in the room because I have something interesting to

05:28say something I am passionate about and I was so happy to have the opportunity by my hundred fellow

05:34members listening to that so I mean it's for them to decide whether do we like it whether I touch

05:41the right fibers and but my presentation is clear I have a very clear program I probably you've seen

05:49my manifesto is very much action-based and it's it's really leaves very little room for future

05:56surprises. But one of the things we have to face and we have to deal with literally focuses on the

06:04issue of integrity. When you see the global community the youth in particular have lost

06:11their trust in global institutions and the IOC is a global institution so we need to regain both

06:20the trust and the sense of relevance with the youth of this world they are our future movement

06:27and I think this is one of the key if I want to say focus of what I would look at as an IOC

06:36president. I believe in the magic ability of sport to unite and bring hope yes hope that

06:46anything is possible and in a world of division and disruption we need hope more than ever before.

06:56I'm standing because I believe that I have a proven track record and experience to deliver

07:06I have successfully run large multinational corporations, led important commercial and

07:17political negotiations across business, sport, media entertainment, foreign affairs, technology,

07:29a lot of areas. I've been very active in climate action preserving millions of acres of rainforest

07:40and the last four years I've led the transformation of the international ski

07:45and snowboard federation. We oversee more than half of the medal events in the Olympic Winter

07:54Games so I think that's a perfect apprenticeship for the presidency.

08:03I know what it takes to lead and drive change. This is not a popularity contest

08:12we are very successful but we have to recognize we face many challenges

08:19therefore this choice will have a profound impact on the Olympic movement for years to come.

08:29So it has to be the most qualified person for the job. I propose to stage the Olympic Games

08:36the Olympic Games on five continents at the same time. I would allow the IOC to offer

08:48the best possible conditions for each sport and of course for the athletes

08:56to reduce the financial burden on host country and to offer greater potential

09:09for broadcast and commercial opportunity.

09:25you

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