Paris 2024 Olympics: Who could succeed Thomas Bach as head of the IOC ?

Le président du CIO, Thomas Bach, lors de la cérémonie de clôture des JO de Paris 2024. MAXPPP – MAST IRHAM

The announced departure of Thomas Bach has launched the race for his succession at the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which will be decided in March 2025: from the media-friendly Sebastian Coe to the more discreet favourites of the Olympic circles, here is a first review of the contenders.

Seb Coe "thinks"

It is no surprise that the British Sebastian Coe launched the first skirmish: tipped for years, the boss of World Athletics acknowledged on Sunday that he was thinking of running for the presidency of the Olympic body next March.

"The opportunity has presented itself and it is obvious that I have to think about it", declared the double Olympic champion of 1500 meters.

The 67-year-old former conservative MP (which would limit him, in view of IOC rules, to a single eight-year mandate) revealed his CV: organizer of the 2012 London Olympics, president of the Committee British Olympic Games then patron of the number one Olympic sport, athletics.

Hottest ticket in town 👀

Welcome to the Stade de France @SnoopDogg and @Simone_Biles 🙌#Paris2024 #OlympicGames pic.twitter.com/7JhvyCa5Zr

— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 8, 2024

In addition to his sporting aura, Coe can boast of having rectified since 2015 a body undermined by his predecessor Lamine Diack, convicted for his involvement in the cover-up of Russian doping.

On the other hand, he has attracted a lot of enmity in the Olympic world by deciding to award bonuses to gold medal-winning athletes at the Paris Olympics, without consulting anyone, while most international federations cannot keep up financially.

His uncompromising positions, including the outright banishment of Russian athletes, also contrast with the balancing act of Thomas Bach, who had reinstated them under a neutral banner at the request of part of the Olympic world.

Hoevertz-Coventry, natural runners-up

If previous IOC elections have taught us anything, it is that a winner rarely emerges from outside, and has instead built his or her career by ticking a series of boxes: accession to the executive board, to a few high-profile positions including supervision of an edition of the Olympic Games, with a bonus for Olympians, i.e. former athletes who have participated in the Games.

While the IOC has never been led by a woman, two are favoured by the experts in Lausanne: Nicole Hoevertz, 60, a Dutch woman from the Caribbean island of Aruba, and Kirsty Coventry, 40, Minister of Sports for Zimbabwe.

The two leaders, members of the IOC Executive, were very visible during the 142nd session that preceded the Paris Olympics, since Hoevertz chairs the Coordination Commission for the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles and Coventry that of the 2032 Olympic Games in Brisbane.

"The #OlympicGames #Paris2024 were a celebration of the athletes and sport at its best."

Read the full speech of IOC President Thomas Bach, during the Closing Ceremony: https://t.co/h54nkXDTFa pic.twitter.com/MbjzHsTun3

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) August 11, 2024

IOC Vice-President Nicole Hoevertz is a polyglot and a lawyer (like Bach), represented Aruba in synchronized swimming at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, and has sat on all the key commissions, including the one in charge of validating Russian and Belarusian athletes under a neutral flag in the spring.

A former swimmer, Kirsty Coventry has a more impressive Olympic record (7 medals including 2 gold in 5 editions), chaired the IOC Athletes' Commission and has government experience, but has a slightly more modest Olympic record than her elder.

She belongs on all fronts

President of the Morbihan departmental council in Brittany, the International Cycling Union and the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, where the ambitious David Lappartient will stop?

At 51, the Breton has no past as an athlete and is not a member of the IOC Executive Board, but chairs the e-sports board, which has just awarded the first Olympic Games for electronic sports to Saudi Arabia.

Asked on Sunday about the upcoming election to the IOC, Lappartient dodged the issue, saying “focused on the Olympic Games” and preferring to pay tribute to Thomas Bach's choice to leave “a bit like Nelson Mandela”, by not asking for too many mandates.