He was not the first to declare himself. But Denis Oswald, the president of the International Rowing Federation, chose to be the one who would launch the “hostilities” in the race to succeed Jacques Rogge at the head of the IOC. The Swiss held a press conference in Lausanne, the city of the Olympic institution. The opportunity to present your ideas, present your program and even, surprise, shoot a few arrows.

In terms of proposals, Denis Oswald advocates enlargement. To an Olympic program often considered close to its limits, he opposes the project of accepting the entry of new disciplines. But on condition, he specifies, of reducing the size of certain sports already present. In short, reduce everyone's share to increase the number of guests.

“The approach I take is not to limit myself to 28 sports. I think we could reduce the size of certain sports, for example by taking into account not only their universality, but the universality of the disciplines across the major sports, explains Denis Oswald. Certain disciplines are not necessarily universal, there are only a few countries that can produce medals and I think that if we did a review in this way, we could manage to reduce the number of events, reduce the number of athletes, which would create room for other sports. »

Cautiously, the president of FISA does not name names. “I don’t want to take a particular sport, but there are disciplines that are quite similar and that the same athlete can win,” he agrees to explain. Swimming, for example, where there are many cumulative participants and the program is increasingly busy.

In passing, Denis Oswald scratches his colleagues on the executive board and openly criticizes, a rarity at the IOC, their decision to have proposed the exclusion of wrestling from the 2020 Games. “It is a grassroots sport which does not does not require a lot of equipment, a sport that is as natural to humans as running or throwing something. It is likely that the Federation, FILA, had not made the efforts expected of it. But I think there were other ways to give him a warning than by excluding him. »

Denis Oswald goes further, he openly predicts the return of wrestling in the program. A prediction which joins the rumors heard here and there for several days. “If, as should be the case, wrestling returns to the program, we will not have achieved the goal we wanted to achieve, that is to say having a new sport in the program,” suggests the Swiss .

Launched like a sprinter, Denis Oswald is not afraid of shaking up some of the most visible leaders of the sports movement. In the lead, the Austrian Marius Vizer, the president of the International Judo Federation, recently elected at the head of SportAccord. The Swiss refutes his plan to organize a World Games: “I think that the Olympic Games must remain unique and that we must prevent the birth in a somewhat chaotic manner of all kinds of competitions which could compete. These competitions, if realistically could exist, which I highly doubt, would not be a real threat to the Games, but could diminish their significance, diminish their prestige and could create problems. »

Finally, Denis Oswald leans towards a form of rebalancing of forces within the IOC. His intention, if he is elected next September: to give more responsibilities to the members of the institution, by reducing the power of the executive commission. A proposal which should earn him a lot of sympathy within an institution where “simple members” sometimes feel like they have become nothing more than voting machines.

Will Denis Oswald be the future IOC president? The battle has only begun. It will be harsh and looks uncertain. Above all, the Swiss knows it and says it: “It will not only be decided on merit, it is also partly a political decision. »