The IOC will elect a new president this week. Here's what you need to know

Behind closed doors astatine a edifice successful Greece, with the cameras turned off, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members volition take a caller president adjacent Thursday astatine the organization's 144th session.

The victor among the 7 candidates volition pb the largest sporting enactment successful the satellite opening successful June erstwhile president Thomas Bach, who has held the apical occupation since 2013, steps aside.

One of the biggest items connected the caller president's to-do database appeared to beryllium checked disconnected earlier this week, erstwhile the IOC announced a caller U.S. media rights woody with NBC.

The deal, worthy $3 billion, volition past done astatine slightest 2036, erstwhile Salt Lake City volition big the Winter Olympics. The U.S. rights woody is simply a large root of gross for the IOC. 

But they'll person plentifulness of different issues to tackle, from navigating planetary diplomacy and conflict, a warming climate, and issues of athletics integrity and jock safety, to making definite the Olympics are accessible to a younger procreation much apt to crook to Tik Tok earlier switching connected a TV.

Here's a preview of what to expect, who's running, and wherefore Canadians should care:

The candidates

Seven radical are vying for the presidency, with galore seeing Sebastian Coe, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Kirsty Coventry arsenic the 3 frontrunners.

Coe, the World Athletics president, four-time Olympic medallist and London 2012 organizer, has a level centred astir engaging young people, expanding transparency, strengthening the anti-doping strategy and prioritizing athletes' physical, fiscal and intelligence welfare. 

"The biggest situation faced by the International Olympic Committee is nary antithetic and it is not unsocial from immoderate nationalist Olympic committee, immoderate sporting organization, immoderate club, backstage oregon public: it is however bash you proceed to excite and prosecute with young people?" Coe told reporters during a little question-and-answer league with media successful January.

"And however bash you utilize, optimize, fully, the usage of cutting-edge technology?" 

Coe raised eyebrows when, up of the Summer Olympics successful Paris past year, helium announced that gold-medal winners successful athletics would get a $50,000 US bonus. Some criticized the determination arsenic going against the spirit of the Olympics.

In his platform, Coe says helium volition prioritize athletes' "financial well-being" and volition marque definite "their contributions are rewarded fairly." He's besides promised to make programs that would spot athletes get a portion of "the commercialized rewards they assistance generate."

Zimbabwe's Coventry is lone the 2nd pistillate to ever tally for the IOC presidency. If elected, she volition besides beryllium the archetypal president from Africa. As a swimmer, Coventry competed astatine 5 Olympic Games, earning 7 medals.

Some spot her arsenic Bach's preferred candidate, though Coventry downplayed that erstwhile a newsman asked astir it successful January.

"We each person a precise bully narration with him," she said. "I deliberation helium is being precise just to each of america astatine this constituent successful time."

She besides emphasized transparency and modernization successful her platform, and has been unfastened astir immoderate of the unsocial challenges African athletes face. The continent has ne'er hosted an Olympic Games, and Coventry is the astir decorated Olympian from Africa.

"We request to find much ways of straight impacting and getting gross to athletes earlier they go Olympians," Coventry told reporters successful January. 

"In my journey, it was casual to get sponsorship erstwhile I'd won a medal. It was getting to that medal that was tough."

If Samaranch's sanction sounds familiar, it's apt due to the fact that his father, who had the aforesaid name, led the IOC from 1980 to 2001. But a batch has changed since his father's presidency.

"Bear successful caput helium joined the Olympic question much than 60 years ago," Samaranch said astir his precocious father.

The younger Samaranch has been an IOC subordinate for much than 2 decades, including 7 years arsenic vice president. That prompted a newsman to inquire him successful January what benignant of changes helium expects to marque arsenic president that helium couldn't marque during truthful galore years connected the IOC's enforcement board.

He described Bach's reign arsenic afloat of "threats" and "complications." Bach's word included Russia's warfare connected Ukraine and doping scandal, positive a global pandemic. Samaranch said alteration volition request to travel adjacent faster successful the future.

The remainder of the tract includes International Ski and Snowboard Federation president Johan Eliasch, International Cycling Union president David Lappartient, Jordan's Prince Feisal Al Hussein and Morinari Watanabe, who leads the International Gymnastics Federation. 

Watanabe's platform offers what whitethorn beryllium the astir extremist connection of all: staging the Games successful 5 cities implicit 5 continents astatine the aforesaid clip to make a 24-hour planetary event. According to Watanabe, that would trim the outgo of hosting and could assistance bring the 5 continents together.

Who casts a vote?

The exclusive rank of the IOC, which includes erstwhile and existent athletes, heads of Olympic committees and sporting federations from crossed the world, and adjacent immoderate royalty — King Frederik X of Denmark and Monaco's Prince Albert II, to sanction conscionable 2 — are tasked with selecting the adjacent president.

Much of that process has happened successful the dark. Candidates each had 15 minutes to contiguous to members astatine an lawsuit successful Switzerland successful January, but those presentations were closed to the nationalist and not allowed to beryllium filmed. Candidates concisely answered questions from the media aft the presentations.

Likewise, the ballot volition hap by concealed ballot, opening astir 4 p.m. section clip (10 a.m. ET) successful Greece connected Thursday. 

Only 1 Canadian is simply a voting subordinate of the IOC: Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) president Tricia Smith. She told CBC Sports the caller president volition play a cardinal relation successful modernizing the Olympics, including integer translation and younker engagement.

"This is simply a infinitesimal to find caller ways to thin into the unsocial powerfulness athletics has to bring america together, which feels much important than ever close now," Smith said successful a written statement.

As for what the COC is looking for successful the adjacent president, Smith said the IOC needs a "leader who understands and embodies the affirmative values of sport, stands up for integrity, bully governance, and sustainability, fiscal and environmental, portion advancing a harmless and inclusive sporting situation worldwide."

The issues 

A warming clime whitethorn beryllium the biggest situation the adjacent president volition face, and it's thing 400 athletes from crossed the globe urged the candidates to prioritize successful a missive released connected Friday.

After devastating wildfires, Los Angeles is successful the spotlight arsenic the big of the 2028 Summer Olympics. Getting determination volition besides mean dealing with the often-unpredictable U.S. President Donald Trump. Meeting with Trump should beryllium precocious connected the adjacent IOC president's to-do list, Samaranch told The Associated Press past week.

Lappartient, meanwhile, told Reuters past week that helium would conscionable with Trump, too, but would accent to the American president that the IOC's autonomy needs to beryllium respected.

During the 1 media availability involving each 7 candidates, galore were asked astir welcoming Russia backmost to the Olympics and what conditions would request to beryllium met for that to happen.

Eliasch said the neutral-athlete programme that allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete, aft a screening process that eliminated athletes who supported the warfare against Ukraine oregon the military, worked well.

Al Hussein said he'd similar to spot the full satellite astatine the Olympics.

"Right now, my knowing is the exclusion of Russian athletes is based connected a usurpation of the Olympic charter," helium said. "As president of the IOC, my relation and work is to uphold the Olympic charter, and arsenic agelong arsenic cipher is successful violation, past determination is nary crushed for sanctions. I would precise overmuch similar to find a mechanics wherever we tin reintroduce it. The satellite is stronger erstwhile we are each together."

Some, similar Coe, emphasized the request to "safeguard the pistillate category" successful his platform. As World Athletics president, his enactment banned transgender athletes successful 2023 and past went a measurement further this year, proposing changes that would widen the aforesaid rules to pistillate athletes who person higher testosterone levels.

Coventry has taken a akin position. The lone pistillate campaigner told reporters the IOC needs to person wide policies and each athletes should consciousness harmless connected the playing field.

Lappartient addressed the contented done the lens of diverseness successful his platform.

"It is simply a analyzable substance that indispensable beryllium dealt with rationally to onslaught the close equilibrium betwixt the request to respect quality rights and the work to guarantee just competition. We cannot disregard what pistillate athletes are saying, but our decisions indispensable besides beryllium grounded connected coagulated technological evidence."

Shaping the aboriginal of sport

The predetermination takes spot thousands of kilometres away, and tin consciousness rather distant for radical who tune into the Olympics each 2 years.

But the IOC president volition signifier however the Olympics look and consciousness implicit the adjacent decade, and the decisions they marque could find the aboriginal of athletics successful Canada and beyond.

That's wherefore Philippe Marquis, a Canadian freestyle skier who competed astatine the 2014 and 2018 Olympics, thinks this predetermination is an important one. The adjacent president volition acceptable the tone, helium said, and volition determine everything from who tin vie connected the biggest signifier to however the Olympics volition navigate a changing and warming climate.

"[For] everyone, whether they're a high-performance jock oregon conscionable recreational, I deliberation athletics plays a captious and precise important spot successful people's mind, people's heart," said Marquis, who chairs the COC's athletes' commission.