The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will hold its election for the next president, at the General Assembly, on March 20, in Greece. It will select a successor to Thomas Bach, who has been at the helm of the organisation since 2013. Seven candidates are running for the job, each offering their own vision and leadership credentials.
The Seven Candidates
Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe): A former Olympic swimmer and the most decorated African Olympian with seven medals.
Sebastian Coe (Great Britain): Two-time Olympic gold medallist in the 1500m (1980 and 1984), Coe is famous for being the chairman of the organisation committee for the 2012 London Olympics. He is now the head of World Athletics, a post he has held since 2015
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. (Spain): Son of former long-serving IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch (1980–2001), Samaranch Jr. has been an IOC member since 2001 and is now an IOC vice president.
Prince Feisal Al Hussein (Jordan): The Jordan Olympic Committee president, Prince Feisal has been an IOC member since 2010. He is recognised for his experience in sports development and administration and has suggested changing the Summer Olympic Games timing to invite more host cities. He also acknowledges the increasing place of Esports in the Olympic movement.
David Lappartient (France): An IOC member since 2017, Lappartient is the president of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and is a proponent of gender equality at the IOC by 2036. Lappartient has underlined the IOC’s need to minimise its costs in order to make the organization financially sustainable. He is also a supporter of hosting the Olympics in Africa for the first time.
Johan Eliasch (Sweden): A businessman and president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, Eliasch has concentrated on making the Olympic Games more commercially viable. In contrast to Coe, he has been critical of the notion of awarding prize money to athletes and instead has argued for improved financial management of the Games.
Morinari Watanabe (Japan): The International Gymnastics Federation president, Watanabe, became an IOC member in 2018. His most innovative idea is the proposal to hold the Olympics on different continents at the same time. He also believes in lengthening the IOC president’s term of office from three to 12 years, so that there is longer-term planning and continuity.
Frontrunners: Coventry, Coe, and Samaranch Jr.
Kirsty Coventry: The Athlete’s Advocate
Born in 1983, Coventry is widely regarded as Africa’s greatest Olympian. She won seven Olympic medals, including two golds in swimming. Beyond her athletic achievements, she has had a prominent role in sports administration, serving as Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sports and as chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
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She has consistently pushed for policies supporting athletes’ well-being, fair play, and gender equality in sports governance. Should she be elected, she will be the first African and the first woman to head the IOC, a milestone moment in the history of the organisation.
Paul Chingoka, the former head of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, once referred to Coventry as “a national treasure.” Zimbabwe’s then-President, Robert Mugabe, praised her as the country’s “golden girl” and rewarded her with a $100,000 cash prize for her achievements at the 2008 Olympics. After competing in five Olympic Games and becoming one of the most decorated female swimmers in individual events, Coventry announced her retirement from the sport in 2016.
Sebastian Coe: The Seasoned Administrator
Lord Coe, who was born in 1956, is a double-Olympic gold medallist at 1500m and a world record-breaking middle-distance runner. Having hung up his athletic career, he turned to politics in the UK before entering sports administration.
His biggest administrative feat was presiding over the well-organized 2012 London Olympics, universally regarded as one of the best-organised Olympic Games of recent times. He has served as president of World Athletics since 2015, where he has introduced comprehensive reforms, such as enhanced anti-doping practices. At the elections, he would bring decades-long leadership credentials to the presidency.
Lord Coe was appointed as the inaugural chairman of FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee, responsible for overseeing cases related to conflicts of interest and breaches of FIFA regulations. His appointment, announced by the then FIFA President Sepp Blatter in Zurich on September 15, 2006, was met with widespread approval. Blatter described him as a highly respected figure in the world of sports and the Olympic movement. This role made Coe one of the highest-ranking English officials to be associated with FIFA.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr.: The IOC Insider
Born in 1959, Antonio Samaranch Jr. has been an IOC member since 2001 and an IOC vice president. His strong family links to the Olympic movement and vast experience in international sports administration qualify him to be a strong candidate. He has suggested financial reforms, such as a $1 billion investment fund to make the IOC sustainable over the long term. He also favours raising the retirement age for IOC members to maintain experienced leadership in the organisation.
In February 2013, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to remove a sport from the Olympic program. While many expected modern pentathlon to be eliminated due to its lower popularity, wrestling was instead dropped, reportedly due to doping violations, despite having a larger athlete and fan base. The change was set to take effect at the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Antonio Samaranch Jr. was widely seen as a key figure in this decision, as his ties to the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) created concerns over a conflict of interest. The removal of the pentathlon would have negatively impacted the UIPM, leading some to believe this influenced the outcome. However, by September 2013, wrestling was reinstated, with officials citing its deep historical roots in the Olympic Games as a primary reason for its return.
The 2025 IOC presidential election is poised to be a historic event. With a combination of past athletes, seasoned administrators, and sports industry professionals, the election will decide the future of the Olympic movement. Whether the IOC chooses Coventry’s athlete-focused strategy, Coe’s seasoned leadership, or Samaranch Jr.’s continuity and fiscal planning, either way, the choice will have a lasting effect on the governance and legacy of the Games. The world now holds its breath for March 20, when the next page of Olympic history will be penned.
Also Read: IOC Executive Board Proposes Boxing for LA28 Olympics: India Awaits final Verdict
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