Khunying Pathama Leeswadtrakul, a member of the International Olympic Committee or IOC, said that after she was approached by many parties to run for the new IOC president position to replace Thomas Bach, the previous president, and there will be an election for a new president in January next year in Greece, she declined because she already has a lot of responsibilities. Therefore, she asked to stay and help with other work.
The Thai female IOC member continued that for the list of candidates who will compete for the position of new IOC president this time, there are 7 people in total, as follows: Prince Faisal Al Hussein, president of the Jordanian Olympic Committee, aged 63, formerly a wrestler and rally driver; Lord Sebastian Coe, president of the World Athletics Federation, from England, aged 67, formerly president of the 2012 Olympic Games Organizing Committee.
Kirsty Coventry, 41, a former Zimbabwean swimmer who competed in five Olympics and is currently the country’s sports minister; Johan Eliasch,
62, the Swedish president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation; David Lapatient, 51, a Frenchman, the president of the World Cycling Federation and president of the French Olympic Committee.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., the 64-year-old Spanish IOC vice president, son of Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former IOC president who held the position for 21 years, and Morinari Watanabe, the 65-year-old Japanese president of the International Gymnastics Federation.
‘From the list, Pattama is happy to support all 7 candidates who are running for the position because they know and are close to everyone. In addition, everyone has the knowledge and skills to help develop an organization like the IOC to move forward,’ said Khunying Pattama.
Source: Thai News Agency