Just one round of voting needed to elect new IOC president

PYLOS: Only one round of voting was required on Thursday to elect the next president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the winner to be announced within the hour.

The race for the most powerful job in world sport reached its conclusion just minutes after IOC members cast their ballots at a luxury seaside resort in Greece’s southwestern Peloponnese.

With just over 100 votes in play, seven contenders have been locked in a high-stakes battle to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the world’s wealthiest multi-sport organisation, which generates an estimated $7 billion per Olympic cycle.

Britain’s Sebastian Coe, Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry, and Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. were widely seen as the frontrunners. Frenchman David Lappartient, Jordan’s Prince Feisal, Swedish-born Johan Eliasch, and Japan’s Morinari Watanabe completed the field.

Earlier on Wednesday, the slow-burn race for the most powerful job in world sport roared into life, set against the dazzling backdrop of the Ionian Sea, where the seven contenders for the IOC presidency made their final moves ahead of a vote that will shape the sporting landscape for the next decade.

Behind the gilded facades and five-star hospitality of the Costa Navarino resort in Greece’s southwestern Peloponnese, whispers of alliances and voting tactics swirled as IOC members met for the 144th Session – the last with Thomas Bach at the wheel.

The winner of the presidential election will lead the world’s wealthiest multi-sports organisation with revenues of about $7 billion per four-year cycle.

With the Mediterranean breeze carrying hints of salt and ambition, the seven seeking to replace Bach had to navigate a gauntlet of flashing cameras and microphones as they were ushered to lunch on a terrace overlooking the sea.

“I’m still here,” quipped Britain’s Sebastian Coe, considered one of the frontrunners, as he walked briskly past the bank of reporters, flashing a smile but making no further comment.