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≡ IOC PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION ≡
World Athletics President and two-time Olympic champion Sebastian Coe (GBR) continued on his interview circuit, promoting his candidature to head the International Olympic Committee, with elections to take place next March in Greece.
He told the BBC in a story published Thursday that while his federation provided prize money for the winners at the 2024 Paris Games, he recognizes that not every one can do so:
“I also have to recognise that some sports are not going to be best placed to create those budgets. That’s why it is important that there is a readjustment in the way sport is being funded, the way National Olympic Committees are being funded.”
He did not offer specific details, but explained:
“I think there are some changes that need to be made and fundamentally around just enabling the membership, the athletes, the National Olympic Committees, the International Federations, partners, broadcasters, to have greater skin in the game and to help structure the future.
“This isn’t the efforts of just one person. I think it needs a collaborative, team-building transition.
“It would be a mistake to conclude that everything is rosy, the red carpet is out in front of us, but we do have to travel down it. I’m very keen to provide structures, governance structures, particularly that allow talented members to be able to shape the direction of the movement, and their voices to be not just heard but acted upon.
“There are some big fundamental challenges that [the Olympics] confronts. Geopolitically, commercially, the relevance of the Games… you don’t want to be so disruptive, but I do think it needs to change.”
He was absolutely positive, however, on strengthening the position of women in sport and protecting the women’s category, something he has championed at World Athletics:
“I think the International Olympic Committee needs a very, very clear policy in this space.
“And the protection of the female category, for me, is absolutely non-negotiable.
“If you are not prepared to do that, and that is where the international federations expect a lead to be taken, then you really will lose female sport and I’m not prepared to see that happen.
“I’m not sure that policy is clear enough at the moment.”
The IOC’s “Framework on Fairness, Inclusion and Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity and Sex Variations” was issued in November 2021 and threw out a prior, one-size-fits-all qualification level for serum testosterone.
Instead, the IOC offered guidelines for each International Federation to follow as they saw fit, but with special attention to non-invasive and dignified measures to protect the mental health of athletes.
World Athletics and other federations, such as World Aquatics and the Union Cycliste Internationale, have adopted stringent testosterone levels and banned transgender women who have gone through male puberty, to eliminate competitors with physical advantages in the female classification.
Coe has been on an interview tear, a tactic which is allowed under the IOC’s rules for the Presidential campaign. He is one of seven candidates, four of whom are from International Federations. Five of the seven candidates, including Coe, require status or rule changes from the IOC membership in order to serve out a full first term of eight years, or two terms over a total of 12 years.
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