Olympic President Hopefuls Attend Meetings
Several of the men vying to take the place of outgoing International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge attended meetings on Wednesday of the IOC executive board and larger committee (May 29) in St. Petersburg.
Singapore's Ng Ser Miang, C.K. Wu of Taiwan, Thomas Bach of Germany and Sergei Bubka of Ukraine, are up against Puerto Rican Richard Carrion and Swiss Denis Oswald in a six-way race for one of the biggest jobs in world sport.
Ng, an IOC vice president and businessman who has been an IOC member since 1998, has seen his international sports profile considerably improved after he successfully staged the inaugural Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010, the brainchild of outgoing president Jacques Rogge.
Bach, also an IOC vice president, is a 1976 Olympic fencing champion, and has been member of the body since 1991.
Wu is head of the International Boxing Federation (AIBA), and Sergei Bubka is a world-record holding pole vaulter, member of the IOC executive board as well as a senior vice-president of the world athletics body, IAAF.
Carrion is a banker, and Oswald heads the World rowing federation (FISA).
Bach is regarded as the frontrunner. But the outcome is still wide open and could be influenced by two other votes - for the 2020 Games' hosts and the introduction of a new Olympic sport - taking place days before the president's election.
Rogge, in charge since 2001, is stepping down in September when his two-term rule comes to a mandatory end.
There are more candidacies expected before the June 10 submission deadline, with Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, head of the IOC's Finance Commission, also considered as a presidential hopeful.
Presented by Adam Justice
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