Lord Coe has launched his bid to become the president of the International Olympic Committee when Thomas Bach stands down next year.
Currently the president of World Athletics, Coe is among seven candidates who have formally put themselves forward for election next March for what, with the Fifa presidency, is the biggest job in global sports politics. No Briton has ever previously held the IOC presidency since its formation in 1894.
Coe will now deliver a personal presentation to the 111 voting IOC members in Lausanne in January ahead of the election at the IOC Session that will be held in Greece in March.
Coe outlined some of his credentials ahead of the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris last month. “I have chaired an Olympic Games from bid to delivery and two years of legacy after that,” said Coe, in reference to how he oversaw the 2012 London Olympics. “I have been privileged to compete in two Olympic Games. I have chaired a national Olympic committee, and I now have the best job in the world as president of the number-one Olympic sport.”
Coe, who is 67 and remains the only man to defend the blue riband Olympic 1500m title, will be up against six candidates from across the world.
They are Zimbabwe’s double Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry, who is regarded as an ally of outgoing president Bach; the current Spanish vice-president Juan Antonio Samaranch jnr, whose father was a past president; France’s David Lappartient, who heads cycling’s world governing body; Prince Feisal Al Hussein, a former wrestler who heads Jordan’s Olympic Committee; the Swedish businessman and skiing chief Johan Eliasch; and the Japanese head of world gymnastics Morinari Watanabe.
Coe has won praise for his leadership at World Athletics since 2015 – notably in overseeing the formation of the Athletics Integrity Unit to tackle doping – and has diverged from the IOC position on major issues including the eligibility of Russian athletes, preventing transgender women from competing in the female category and prize money for gold medallists.
Concerns, however, were raised over Coe’s eligibility – he would have to stand down as World Athletics president and would then need to be elected as an IOC member – as well as his age, which would surpass the 70-year-old limit during a potential eight year term of office until 2033.
The IOC statement on Monday, however, appears to suggest that this could be addressed and Coe’s name has been accepted as a candidate. “Lord Coe is eligible to be re-elected as an IOC Member until he reaches the age limit of 70 in 2026,” said the IOC statement, added that he “may be proposed to the IOC Session for a change of membership status…(and) may be proposed for a four-year age limit extension until 2030.”