Sebastian Coe pledges to free the voices of IOC members if he becomes president

PARIS – Sebastian Coe says if he becomes president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he wants a “reset” to give its members more of a voice.

Coe and the six other candidates to succeed Thomas Bach published their manifestos on December 19 and will make presentations to IOC members in January ahead of the March elections.

The British middle-distance legend, president of World Athletics since 2015, is happy to present himself as the candidate for reform.

He declared that he wanted to “liberate the voice of IOC members”.

“There is no shortage of talent (among the members). But the question I ask myself as a member is: what contribution do I and other members have? And the reality is that there aren’t enough of them. There is too much power in the hands of too few people,” Coe said in a call with international media.

“I am absolutely committed to the idea that the reset must be focused on sport… and at the epicenter must be the athletes, whose voices must be heard.”

Coe’s decision to break with other Olympic sports and pay bonuses to track and field gold medalists at the Paris Games has upset many within the IOC, but he makes no apologies.

“If you want a reset in sport, there has to be a reset in prioritizing your budgets… if you want to innovate and make sport as exciting as possible.”

Regardless, he said, “I never saw myself in anything I did as an insider. »

Coe also openly criticized the IOC’s handling of the gender row involving two female boxers, Algeria’s Imane Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting, at the Paris Olympics.

Although both were excluded from last year’s world championships – organized by the Russian-led International Boxing Association (IBA) – the IOC allowed them to compete in Paris and both won gold medals. ‘gold.

In her manifesto, Coe pledges to “protect and promote the integrity of women’s sport” as it finds itself “at a critical time”.

He adds: “I will advocate for clear, science-based policies that protect women. We will work closely with world-renowned medical and educational institutions to increase research into women’s health, performance and exercise physiology.

“We must handle this situation with sensitivity and determination to ensure that current and future generations of women choose sport. » AFP

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