Welcome to Sports at Large. I’m Milton Kent.
Because American election campaigns are so lengthy and so fraught with drama, one can be forgiven for wanting nothing to do with anything relating to the balloting process, especially since we’re just done with one of the most traumatic votes in the nation’s history.
Yet, if you’re truly a fan of sports, you’ll want to keep an eye on Greece this week. There, roughly 100 members of the International Olympic Committee will cast one of the most consequential votes in recent memory.
The IOC will gather to decide on a new president from a pool of seven candidates looking to succeed Thomas Bach, who is term limited and will be stepping down after 12 years at the helm.
Four of them are presidents of organizations that head individual Olympic sports. One of those four, Sebastian Coe, was a middle distance runner who won Olympic gold in 1980 and 84 for Great Britain.
One candidate, Feisal al Hussein, is a prince of Jordan. One, Kirsty Coventry, the sports minister of Zimbabwe, would be the first woman to head the IOC. She reportedly is Bach’s favored candidate.
However, it’s the seventh name, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jr., who is drawing the most attention.
The 65-year-old Spanish-born financier has been a member of that nation’s Olympic committee since 1989 and an official in the modern pentathlon board for over 30 years.
In other words, Samaranch knows his way around the so-called Olympic movement, as IOC members refer to the Games, and for good reason.
If his name sounds familiar, it’s because his father was president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001, a period of unprecedented financial growth.
Under the elder Samaranch’s rule, the Olympics exploded in revenue, as the IOC struck deals with global corporate sponsors and television networks with reckless abandon. The long term contracts with NBC alone brought billions into the IOC’s coffers.
In addition, the Olympic movement grew up, as it were, finally recognizing that its insistence on supposed strict amateurism was anachronistic as well as unenforceable.
And so, professional athletes were whole-heartedly welcomed into the fold. Indeed, the presence of the Dream Team in 1992, infused life and attention into the Olympic process.
However, the elder Samaranch also presided over an era where scandals rocked the IOC, particularly in the bidding for host cities, as members accepted money and other off-the-books favors for their votes.
Indeed, Samaranch Jr. has indicated that under his rule, he would give IOC members more of a role in choosing host cities, which could reopen the door to potential graft.
Samaranch Jr. has also let it be known that he wants the athletes to have a freer hand in obtaining highlights from their Olympic performances from the networks so they can post them to their social media accounts.
The IOC is scheduled to meet Thursday to pick a new leader, and it will be interesting to see if it votes to go in a new direction or to choose the familiar. As American voters can attest, a second helping of the recognizable isn’t always so palatable.
And that’s how I see it for this week. You can reach us via email with your questions and comments at Sports at Large at gmail.com. And follow me on Threads, BlueSky and X at Sports at Large.
Until next week, for all of us here and for producer Lisa Morgan, I’m Milton Kent. Thanks for listening and enjoy the games.