World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multi-millionaire and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch and Zimbabwe's Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry are among seven candidates for next year's International Olympic Committee presidency election, the IOC said on Monday.
Bach, an Olympic fencing champion in 1976, steps down from his post this year after 12 years in charge. He will hand over on June 23 to the new president, to be elected on March 20.
'Nobody in the Olympic landscape should conclude that because I had a mandate in World Athletics... that this is a one-size-fits-all. That I suddenly walk straight into the (IOC) office in Lausanne next week and tell everybody they are taking prize money.'
'He has been a promoter and supporter of these Games during his first term. These Games were allocated to Los Angeles during the first term. He loves sport.'
Kirsty Coventry smashed through the International Olympic Committee's glass ceiling to become the organisation's first female and first African president in its 130-year history.
Sebastian Coe, a contender for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president's post, believes India's bid to host the 2036 Olympic Games is a "strong case" but acknowledges that the competition will be intense with several other countries vying for the honor. Coe, considered a frontrunner in the race to succeed Thomas Bach as IOC president, expressed his support for India's commitment to global sport and the Olympic movement.
New coronavirus cases have been rising at an alarming rate in France since the beginning of the month, casting a menacing shadow over the re-scheduled 107th edition of the race.