Sebastian Coe among 7 IOC members to take part in race to succeed Thomas Bach as president

GENEVA (AP) — Two former Olympic champions are in the running to be the next president of the IOC. So are the prince of a Middle Eastern kingdom and the son of a former president. World leaders in cycling, gymnastics and skiing are also in the running.

International Olympic Committee the list was published on Monday of seven potential candidates set to run in the March election to replace outgoing President Thomas Bach for the next eight years.

Only one woman, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, a member of the IOC executive board, entered the race to lead the organization, which has had only male presidents in its 130-year history. Eight of those presidents were from Europe, and one from the United States.

Coventry and Sebastian Coe are two-time gold medalists in swimming and running. Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan is also on the IOC board.

Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain is one of the four vice-presidents of the IOC. He is an investment banker, a position his father held for 21 years until 2001.

David Lappartient is president of cycling’s governing body, Morinari Watanabe runs gymnastics and Johan Eliasch is president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation. Coe is president of World Athletics in the sport.

All seven met Sunday’s deadline to send a letter of intent to Bach, who must step down next year after serving a maximum term of 12 years in office. Bach he turned down an offer to take part in the Olympic Games in Paris last month seek to change the IOC rules in order to be able to serve longer in office.

The next president’s term will cover the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 and in Brisbane, Australia, four years later. Major decisions facing the IOC include choosing the host for the 2036 Games — with India and Qatar participating — assessing the impact of climate change on the global sports calendar and renewing the U.S. broadcasting agreement that has been the backbone of Olympic finances.

The formal list of candidates should be approved in January, three months before the electoral meeting, which will be held March 18-21 in Greece, near ancient Olympia.

The right to stand as a candidate is reserved exclusively for IOC members, and votes cast by other IOC members 111 members Olympic body.

The IOC is one of the most exclusive clubs in world sports. Its members come from European and Middle Eastern royal families, leaders of international sports organizations, former and current Olympic athletes, politicians and diplomats, and industrialists, including billionaires like Eliasch.

It is one of the most discreet and peculiar election campaigns in world sport, in which members cannot publicly support their favorites.

Campaign restrictions for candidates include a ban on releasing videos, holding public meetings and participating in public debates. They are expected to publish manifestos before the IOC holds a closed meeting to address voters in January in their hometown of Lausanne, Switzerland.

The top position at the IOC would require in-depth knowledge of sports management, understanding the needs of athletes and navigating international politics.

The president oversees an organization that earns billions of dollars from Olympic broadcasting and sponsorship deals and employs hundreds of workers.

Coe was widely considered the most qualified candidate. A two-time Olympic 1,500-meter champion, he became an elected British legislator in the 1990s, chaired the London 2012 Olympic bid and organizing committees, and chaired World Athletics for nine years.

But he clashed with the IOC, Bach and leaders of other sports organizations on several issues, including his strong positions against Russia about state-sponsored doping and the invasion of Ukraine and the decision to awarding a cash prize of $50,000 to win gold medals in athletics in Paris.

“A laser focus on sport must be the IOC’s top priority. I believe I can help achieve that and more,” Coe said in a statement Monday.

However, he has potential legal obstacles about his ability to serve a full eight-year term. The IOC has an age limit of 70 for members, while Coe will be 68 on election day. The rules allow for a special exemption that could last for another four years, but that would mean a six-year presidency unless those limits are changed.

Coventry, who turned 41 on Monday, also has experience working in government, having served as sports minister in Zimbabwe.

The only woman to ever run for IOC president was Anita DeFrantz, a former U.S. Olympic rower. She was eliminated in the first round of voting in the five-candidate election in 2001, which was won by Jacques Rogge.

Samaranch, who turns 65 in November, is the longest-serving member among the candidates, having joined in 2001 when his father resigned. The Spanish official would also need an extension of the IOC’s age limit.

Lappartient is also the president of the French national Olympic body and gained a strong momentum from the Summer Olympics in Paris. He leads the French Alps project, which was selected to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and was chosen by Bach to oversee the long-term project closed in Paris, which will include Saudi Arabia to host E-Sports Olympics until 2035.

Eliasch is perhaps the most surprising candidate after being elected to the IOC in Paris less than two months ago. The Swedish-British owner of the Head sportswear brand received 17 no votes, an unusually high number in Olympic politics.

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