BetOnline, based in Antigua, accepts bets on who will win the elections for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on March 19. Few are surprised that the current favorite among the seven candidates to succeed Thomas Bach, president for the last 12 years, is Sebastian Coe, current patron of World Athletics (WA, international athletics federation), who enjoys, at 68, an aura of invincibility. Everything he tries he achieves. As an athlete, in the 80s, he was a double Olympic champion and world record holder in the 800m, 1,000m and mile. As a leader, he has been a member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, organizer of the magnificent Games in London 2012, president of the British Olympic Committee, president of World Athletics… “And already in 1981, representing the athletes, I gave the speech final of the Baden-Baden Olympic Congress,” says Coe in a video conference interview. “The Olympic world has been at the center of all my experiences, or very close. “You could say I’ve been training for this my whole life.”
Ask. In other words, would this work be the culmination of a life?
Answer.I don’t see it as a job. I see it as an absolute passion. It’s what I’ve done for most of my life, I guess since the moment I put on a pair of running shoes at age 11.
Q.Have you always had a route mapped out in your head to the top?
R. No, it’s not so much about the positions and responsibilities. It’s about the experiences, what you absorb along the way. I think I have something to offer. I think it’s different. I have a very clear vision and a plan.
Q.The current president, Thomas Bach, only two years older, also participated in the Baden-Baden Congress. Wouldn’t the elections be the great occasion for a generational change?
R.I’m going to use a football metaphor now. Every once in a while you have to put your foot on the ball and stop and spend some time thinking and looking around. And that’s what these elections should do. This is a renewal, a period in which I think we will make a decision that will determine the pace and pace and the future of the organization for more than a decade. It is a debate that must be had.
Q.According to the Olympic Charter, you can be re-elected as an IOC member until 2026, when you will reach the age limit of 70 years, although you can obtain an extension of the age limit of four years. Since the initial term is eight years, you would not be able to serve it…
R.My goal is to integrate transformative change in the next four years, after which I would run for re-election.
Q.What challenges does the IOC face?
R. The challenges are in the diffusion model and in the way in which the commercial landscape of the sport has changed. We know that there are geopolitical challenges. I chaired the London Organizing Committee. The world was not a simple place in 2012, but today it is much more complicated and conflictive. You have to understand and navigate that landscape.
Q. At the Baden-Baden Congress you came to ask for a certain empowerment of athletes in the Olympic movement…
R. Athletes drive the value of the Games and must share in the commercial rewards they help generate, empowering them as partners, not just participants. Resources and support programs must be expanded to ensure they are better prepared for life after competition.
Q.But athletes still have very little voice…
R.The regulations are very restrictive, yes, it is very restrictive. We have to do everything we can to help them tell their stories. They are very knowledgeable about technology. They want to participate, they want their own content, and we have to find platforms where they can tell their story. In 2026 we will take your social media teams to the Ultimate Athletics Championships in Budapest to help you tell your story. It’s about giving content to athletes and using modern distribution channels. Mobile is very important here.
Q. Is it necessary to maintain the apolitical appearance of the IOC?
R.I may not be an independent witness because I was also a Member of Parliament and a Government Minister, so when we say to keep politics out of sport, I think that is an unrealistic assessment and in fact we need politics in sport. : We do not need political parties, but rather politicians, regardless of their political ambition, and the challenge we have is to ensure that politicians of all stripes understand that sport is and must be aligned with all their great social policies. The best economic, health, educational and social cohesion policy is sport. Sport is the most powerful social worker in every community and, if used properly, is the best diplomat we have.
Q. The IOC is also allergic to the political position taken by athletes…
R.But in athletics we are very proud that it has been athletes who have largely driven social change. Jesse Owens in 1936, and John Carlos and Tommie Smith on the podium at Mexico 1968. These two were absolutely fundamental to the change for civil rights and integration, and we should not be afraid or ashamed of our history. It is very important that our athletes have a voice. We can’t have it both ways. We cannot ask athletes to engage with young people through their sport, and then tell them that they cannot contribute to issues that are important to young people. Young people are deeply anti-discriminatory. They want diverse and inclusive communities. They want to work in those types of organizations. They are worried about climate change. They understand that they live in a world where discrimination is non-negotiable. Our athletes need to be able to express those concerns.
Q.WA has been especially harsh in denying trans and intersex women the right to compete in the women’s category.
R.I worry that we are losing sight of what makes the Games special, the pursuit of stellar human achievement through fair competition. It is essential to protect the integrity of women’s sport, establish clear science-based policies and increase research into women’s health, performance and physiology. Women’s sports are at a critical moment. We must face it with sensitivity and determination so that current and future generations of women choose sport.
