The future of the Olympic and Paralympic Games appears as one of the main challenges of the election of the next IOC president. How to keep the flame alive, both sportingly and economically? Morinari Watanabe suggests to spread the Games across several continents. Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics, does not go that far, but he believes that the event must evolve. " I think that we risk losing sight of what makes the Games so special, he poses in the columns of L'Equipe. Paris was an extraordinary edition, but the question is what does the movement convey between Games? How do we stay relevant and excite future generations?
“We need to modernize. The landscape of sports marketing has changed, we need to adapt. It’s not just about commercial transactions anymore, it’s about strategic partnerships. We need to better integrate our business partners in our vision », says the dean of the candidates. In his program, he notably shared his wish to thinking about the programming of the Games, by including indoor events on the Winter Games agenda that had previously been included in the Summer Games. "I am optimistic, but I think that the future of the Games lies in their ability to reinvent themselves permanently. They must adapt to new economic, social and environmental realities, but also continue to inspire the world with the Olympic values of peace, solidarity and unity, hammers the Briton. If the Games succeed in reinventing themselves by being more sustainable, inclusive and more accessible, they will continue to be a positive force and a source of inspiration for many decades to come.”
