The Race to Olympia: Rise of the Big Beasts

Two clear favourites have emerged in the race for IOC President and why no-one should be surprised that a solution has been found to the boxing crisis in time for LA28

Are the Big Beasts breaking clear in the battle to succeed Thomas Bach as International Olympic Committee President?

From the outset, two candidates - Juan Antonio Samaranch and Sebastian Coe - had the look of heavyweights in the seven-strong field, the legacy of their famous names and decades-long international sports CVs. Yet there seemed nothing much to suggest that this would be anything other than a very open race. Unless that is you bought into the line that Kirsty Coventry would somehow romp home to become the first woman IOC President in the body’s 131-year existence.

But this week, for the first time, as the contest’s focal-point moves briefly to Frankfurt, where the European Olympic Committees are gathering, the mood appears to be shifting. For the first time, the antennae at Zeus Files Towers are detecting the buzz of building momentum behind the efforts of the two hard-canvassing 60-somethings, in contrast to the campaigns of some younger rivals.