Three candidates are in a race to be elected the next president of the IOC with winner set for daunting prospect of working alongside Donald Trump ahead of LA Olympics
Seb Coe has the backing of Usain Bolt and Mo Farah. But the endorsements of track and field’s good and great will have a minimal impact in Greece on Thursday when the IOC’s 109 delegates vote for their new president.
Coe is in a three-way race with Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr and Kirsty Coventry for the biggest job in sport with four also-rans on the secret ballot. And despite being the most visible candidate, history indicates that back-room lobbying is what matters most in sport’s most exclusive membership group.
Athletics chief Coe has framed himself as the man to modernise the Olympics and athlete empowerment. Coe’s pledges have focused on prioritising athletes and fans – specifically through “intensifying the work” around doping controls and introducing a ban on trans athletes and those with differences in sex development competing in all female sports.
“I will advocate for clear, science-based policies that safeguard the female category,” Coe said in his manifesto, having already introduced a ban in track…
