Morinari Watanabe, a Japanese official has expressed his desire to make the International Olympic Committee and the Olympics more beloved by the public. As a candidate for the next president of the IOC, he promises to modernise the organisation to keep up with the changing times. Currently the President-elect of the oldest Olympic sports federation, Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), he is one of seven candidates vying to replace Thomas Bach in March.
If elected, he will become the first Asian president of the IOC. This is not the first time Watanabe has been in such a high-stakes position. In 2016, he became the first Asian president of FIG, taking over from Bruno Grandi after his 20-year tenure. As the Secretary General of the Japan Gymnastics Association at the time, he won the election against Georges Guelzec, the head of the European Union of Gymnastics, with a vote of 100 to 119. Watanabe is also the first Japanese president of an Olympic international federation since Ichiro Ogimura led the International Table Tennis Federation from 1987 to 1994. In 2018, Watanabe was elected and sworn in as an IOC Member, with his membership dependent on his FIG Presidency.
Watanabe’s journey to the Olympic stage was not a straightforward one. In a lecture to his alma mater, Toko High School, he recalled his rebellious school days and his initial dream of becoming a doctor. However, he later pursued a degree in Physical Education from Tokai University in Tokyo and a specialisation in gymnastics from the Vassil Levski National Sports Academy in Bulgaria. After completing his studies, he became a businessman and eventually rose to become the Director of the Sports Business Division at retail company AEON. During this time, he also coached artistic and rhythmic gymnastics and established the AEON’s Cup Worldwide Rhythmic Gymnastics Club Championships in 1994, which has now become one of the three major championships in the world, alongside the World Championship and European Championship.
After Japan’s lack of success in gymnastics at the Olympics in the 1990s, Watanabe turned his attention towards reviving the sport in his home country. He joined the Japanese Gymnastics Association in 2001 and since then, Japan has won medals in gymnastics at every Olympic Games.
Watanabe’s goal was to make gymnastics the “king of sports” not just in Japan, but globally. Under his leadership, FIG has gained new sponsors, increased the value of broadcasting rights, and expanded the popularity of the sport. This includes the introduction of new disciplines, such as the obstacle course, and Watanabe has expressed his desire to include all gymnastics disciplines in the Olympics.
He has also been actively promoting the use of technology to aid in athlete development, coaching, and to eliminate misjudging and harmonise judging standards. In a press conference last May, he stated his hope for technology to make gymnastics coaching more accessible to young athletes worldwide and provide equal opportunities for them to develop their skills through their smartphones. Apart from implementing technology at the grassroots level, Watanabe also has plans to modernise elite gymnastics. After being elected for a second term, he announced his vision to bring innovation to the sport and has already shown support for an AI judging system developed by sponsor Fujitsu. This system has been trained on the entire Code of Points, video footage of 8,000 routines, and every element of the discipline. It was first introduced at the 2019 World Championships and last year, a judging system for all 10 apparatuses was launched.
Watanabe’s inclination towards technology could work in his favour as a candidate for IOC president, as the organisation has been actively promoting modernisation through The Olympic AI Agenda.
However, Watanabe understands that ultimately, it is the people and not machines he needs to win over. He hopes to make the presidential role more democratic and take into account the opinions of more than just the executive branch. This is in contrast to the current decision-making system of the IOC, where all decisions are made by the president and then approved by the executive board and at IOC sessions.
In an interview with Japan News when he announced his candidacy, Watanabe stated that he believes in listening to the communities, the people who live in the places where the Games are held, in order to design an event that will attract local residents and leave a lasting legacy. Watanabe has already made efforts to listen to different perspectives, having reportedly travelled to over 160 countries in the past eight years to discuss the Olympics and the role of sports in society.
Watanabe envisions a new Olympics that integrates traditional and urban sports, as well as emerging eSports. He believes that it is necessary to make changes for the sake of children and athletes who participate in the Games. The IOC
