On January 29, 2025, most of the 110 IOC members gathered in Lausanne ahead of the 143rd Extraordinary IOC Session, where presidential candidates will present their cases on Thursday. With the election set for March 20 in Greece, the atmosphere in the Olympic capital is charged, as the campaigning heats up. The Lausanne Palace, the traditional hotel hosting the IOC members, is bustling with energy as the race intensifies.
It has been over 11 years since the last candidate presentations in Lausanne, back in July 2013. That election saw incumbent Thomas Bach from Germany face off against five other candidates: Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Ser Miang Ng (Singapore), Denis Oswald (Switzerland), and Ching-kuo Wu (Chinese Taipei). Bach won in a closely contested two-round election on September 10, 2013, securing 49 votes in the second round, two more than needed, while his opponents combined for 44 votes. Wu was eliminated in the first round, and Miang Ng narrowly beat him in a tie-breaker.
Since then, many new faces have joined the IOC, with 80 members still serving from that time. As a result, 72% of the current members are facing their first presidential election, a pivotal moment for the future of the Olympic movement. In 2021, Bach was re-elected unopposed, and members only had to vote yes or no.
This year, the election features seven candidates: Prince Feisal Al Hussein (Jordan), David Lappartient (France), Johan Eliasch (Great Britain/Sweden), Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain), Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe), Lord Sebastian Coe (Great Britain), and Morinari Watanabe (Japan). Only Samaranch, Prince Feisal, and Coventry were IOC members when Bach was first elected.
As the IOC faces challenges ranging from economic to environmental, security, and technological issues, members will have to choose who will guide the Olympic movement into a new era. The new president will be elected by secret ballot for an eight-year term, with the option of one four-year re-election. The term begins on June 24, 2025.
