ATR Podcasts Mark Final Week for IOC Presidential Candidates

(ATR) The six men who hope to be elected IOC president head into the final week of their campaigns at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

The vote will take place one week from tomorrow.

Thomas Bach of Germany, Sergey Bubka of Ukraine, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico, Ser Miang Ng of Singapore, Denis Oswald of Switzerland and C.K. Wu of Chinese Taipei are the six men in the race to succeed Jacques Rogge. It’s the largest field ever for the post, surpassing the five in 2001 when Rogge was elected.

The candidates are among the most accomplished of IOC members, whether helping to raise billions for the Olympics, directing the preparation of the Games or leading federations and national Olympic committees. Three of them are medal-winning Olympians.

But when the votes are counted, no matter who wins, the new president will not be a revolutionary.

There are no firebrands among this band of IOC members who have been with the organization for 20 years or more. Nearly all are 60 or older.

"Evolution, not revolution" promises more than one of the candidates, all of whom are careful to praise the tenure of Rogge, who reaches his 12-year term limit. They all say they are ready to grow the IOC from the Rogge era.

There are differences among the group, in style, substance and their experiences as IOC members. Some of those distinctions are apparent in interviews with each by Around the Rings conducted in July and now presented as podcasts at this location.

Manifestos from the candidates are also online. Under IOC rules, they are the only documents allowed to be distributed to fellow members that provide specifics about their plans as president.

Those IOC rules prevent any debate among the candidates nor are members allowed to declare their support for a favorite. This campaign brought a slight change to the race with the six making 15-minute speeches to the IOC Session held July 4 in Lausanne, but behind closed doors, without press coverage.

Despite quirky rules, the six candidates have managed to make themselves available around the world during the past few months of IOC meetings and international sports events such as the IAAF championships, as ubiquitous as teams from the three 2020 bid cities.

Click here to listen to the podcasts with theIOC presidential candidates.Who do you think should be the next president of the International Olympic Committee?*