Voting for the new President is taking place today in Costa Navarino, Greece.
There are 7 candidates - here are some comments about them from: https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/ ... ounds-vote
Sebastian Coe, Great Britain
Kirsty Coventry, ZimbabweThe double Olympic 1,500m champion, former head of London 2012, and current president of World Athletics is widely regarded as having the most complete CV in the field. The 68-year-old is running as the change candidate after the authoritarian reign of Thomas Bach and has promised IOC members more involvement in debates and decisions. Other planks of Coe’s manifesto include protecting women’s sports and pushing more for smaller sports. Has a chance. But he also knows that Bach is doing everything in his power to stop him.
Johan Eliasch, Great BritainThe 41-year-old is bidding to become the first woman and African to lead the IOC in its 131-year history and, crucially, has Bach’s backing. Whether that will be enough is unclear, but it gives her a shot even though her manifesto was widely regarded as uninspiring and her policies are essentially continuity Bach. However she has grown on the campaign trail and will have the support of many of the athletes among the IOC membership.
Prince Faisal al Hussein, JordanNo one expects the Swedish-born, British citizen president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation to win. However the billionaire and former chief executive of Head has made his voice heard by insisting that sport has to do more to respond to climate change. His proposals include rotating the Winter Games among a group of permanent venues and ensuring that “only those who were born female can compete in women’s sport.”
David Lappartient, FrancePrince Faisal, the younger brother of Jordan’s King Abdullah II, has enjoyed a well-run campaign in which he has stressed that sport can be a tool for peace between east and west, and called for better safeguarding. “I grew up in a family that knows all about service,” said Faisal, who previously served in the military. He is also a big fan of the computer game World of Warships. His candidacy is likely to be sunk by the fourth round of voting.
Juan Antonio Samaranch, SpainThe 51-year-old has been president of the International Cycling Union since 2017. After overseeing a deal with Saudi Arabia for staging an Esport Olympics, with Bach’s blessing, his star was seen in the ascendancy. However the IOC president has instead chosen to throw his support behind Coventry in this election and as a result the Frenchman will struggle to get out of the early rounds.
Morinari Watanabe, JapanThe 65-year-old joined the IOC at the same 2001 meeting in Moscow where his father stood down after 21 years as president. He is well connected and has links with Russia, where his father was an ambassador, and China, where there is a Samaranch museum. A former banker, Samaranch is well-regarded and charming. His manifesto talks about protecting women athletes and giving members more of a voice – but, his critics argue, why didn’t he raise these issues before?
The well-liked head of international gymnastics has no chance in the race. However he did come up with the most-talked about proposal of the seven candidates: staging the Olympics in five continents at the same time on a rolling 24-hour sports channel. Watanabe argues that such a proposal will add more sports and allow more and smaller cities to be Olympic hosts while meeting sustainability targets.
