And two. After Thomas Bach, Ng Ser Miang will slip tomorrow, Thursday May 16, onto the starting line of the candidates to succeed Jacques Rogge at the head of the IOC. Like the German, the native of China, now a citizen of Singapore, had never hidden his intention to run for the presidency of the Olympic institution. He's been working there for a long time. And seems, on paper, at least as well armed as its European rival.
At 64 years old, Ng Ser Miang has the perfect pedigree. A former high-level athlete, sailing specialist in the 60s, he served for four years, between 1994 and 1998, as vice-president of the International Sailing Federation. A springboard that the Asian used to reach the IOC. Inducted in 1998, he became vice-president in 2009. In Lausanne, Ng Ser Miang used his funds on all the important chairs: finance and audit commission, evaluation commission for the 2012 Games and coordination of those of Beijing and London.
Above all, the leader of Singapore carried on his shoulders, with obvious brilliance, the organization of the first Youth Olympic Games in 2010, on his own land. An event imagined, wanted and pushed by Jacques Rogge himself. Since then, the two men have maintained a relationship of friendship, trust and mutual respect. One way of suggesting that the Belgian could constitute strong support for Ng Ser Miang.
Former parliamentarian, current ambassador of Singapore to Norway (after having been for twelve years in Hungary), Ng Ser Miang has revealed himself to be a formidable businessman. He cut his teeth in public transport, managing the national bus company. Today he chairs the largest supermarket chain in Singapore.
Nothing to say, so the copy is perfect. But the Asian does not neglect any detail. Ng Ser Miang will announce his candidacy for the presidency of the IOC on Thursday morning in an amphitheater at the Sorbonne, in the heart of Paris. Anecdotal? Surely not. By choosing a place so far from its bases, the Asian plays a double card. He gives his gesture a historical significance, by locating it in the same university room where Baron Pierre de Coubertin pronounced the creation of the modern Games, more than a century ago. At a time when the IOC sometimes seems to forget the past, to the point of proposing the exclusion of wrestling, one of its oldest sports, the idea could be attractive.
In addition, Ng Ser Miang hopes by “voting” for Paris to attract French-speaking votes. The leader of Singapore does not speak French, but he explains that he took it seriously, taking accelerated lessons. His approach is intended to be symbolic, nothing more. But it demonstrates the strong return of French-speaking influence in the international sports movement.
