The campaign is only just beginning. Discreetly, as required by the rules and custom. The IOC has not even published the candidates' application documents on the dedicated space of its official website. But the six men and the only woman in the running to succeed Thomas Bach are beginning to make themselves heard.
Two of them did so publicly at the beginning of the week, marking the start of the competition in their own way. A European and an Asian. The Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch and the Japanese Morinari Watanabe occupied the media space on Tuesday, September 24. The first spoke far from his base, in Budapest. The second played at home.
First up is Juan Antonio Samaranch (pictured above). IOC Vice-President, presented as one of the favourites for the race, the Catalan took advantage of his trip to the Hungarian capital for the European Week of Sport to deliver his first speech as a candidate.
He spoke of sport as a public health tool. Classic. But, less expected, the Spaniard urged European legislators to invest massively in sporting activity, at all levels of practice.
« Let's keep it simple: sport saves lives – and money, assured Juan Antonio Samaranch in Budapest. Funding for sport should not be seen as an expense by national governments, but rather as an investment in the health of our fellow human beings. Sport and physical exercise reduce disease and health care costs. As a banker, this is what I call an 'investment' that pays dividends in human lives. ».
The IOC presidential candidate has pulled out his figures. According to his calculations, which are not easy to verify, compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) minimum standard of 150 minutes of physical activity per week could save up to 10% of health costs. The result: 140 to 200 billion euros less each year.
Juan Antonio Samaranch also gave his opinion on the Russian question. He did so on the sidelines of his speech, in response to questions from theAFP. " As soon as possible, we would like to reconsider the reinstatement of the Russian Olympic Committee, he explained. But today it is still in flagrant violation of the Olympic Charter. As soon as the reasons for the suspension disappear, we have an obligation to start working very hard to bring it back."
Another place, another candidate. Morinari Watanabe, the president of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), chose Tokyo to meet the media. The Japanese held a press conference on Tuesday, September 24.
Morinari Watanabe focused on the IOC and the Olympic Games, their image in the public eye and the importance of safeguarding it. Unlike his Spanish rival, the Japanese began his campaign without straying too far from the subject. He gave journalists a speech that was very much imbued with his ideas on the future of the Olympic movement. A form of evidence in a country, Japan, where the corruption scandal linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games has tarnished its image.
« I have travelled to over 160 countries over the past eight years, talking to their sports staff about what the Olympics should be like and how sports can contribute to society, detailed Morinari Watanabe, quoted by Kyodo News. We must listen to public opinion and create an Olympic Games that satisfies the people of the countries that host them ».
Asked about his chances of victory, the Japanese was very evasive. The opposite would have been badly received. "I might get a few votes or I might be the lucky one", he replied.
At 65, a member of the institution since 2018, he aims to become the first IOC president from the Asian world next March. An ambition shared by another of the seven candidates, Feisal al Hussein of Jordan.
The casting of the candidacy campaign, unveiled by the IOC on Monday 15 September, also includes Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, Frenchman David Lappartient, Briton Sebastian Coe, and British-born Swedish Johan Eliasch.
