Anyone who succeeds the current president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, will have to solve a number of problems from the very beginning - issues related to transgender athletes, the attitude towards the anti-doping agency WADA, the extension of sanctions against Russia.
Sebastian Coe is one of seven candidates for the highest position in world sports. In a special interview with DW, the Briton answers the main questions he will have to seek answers to - such as whether transgender athletes pose a threat to women's sports. "At the elite level - yes", says Coe and continues: "For me, integrity in elite women's sports is very important. Because if we lose it, we lose women's sports. I am not ready to accept that".
In his campaign manifesto, Coe says he wants to "protect and promote" the women's categories. Inclusion should not be put above fairness.
A total ban on transgender athletes?
As president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Coe has already decided to exclude transgender athletes who have gone through male puberty from elite women's competitions. However, he has not confirmed whether he will push for a total ban on transgender athletes from the Olympics if he is elected IOC president on March 20.
"This is of course a discussion that needs to be led by the international sports associations," Coe says. "I have always been a believer in cooperation." International associations and national Olympic committees must keep their distance from politics. At the same time, it is important for the IOC to take the lead and provide direction, says Kou. "I think the rules should be clear, and they aren't. That's why a lot of international associations are in a kind of no-man's land."
Will gender testing be reintroduced at the Olympics?
During the 2024 Games in Paris, heated discussions took place over the gender of boxers Imane Khelif of Algeria and Lin Yu-ting of Taiwan. The IOC announced that both were born and raised as women. Now critics of the current policy are pushing for the reintroduction of mandatory gender-determination tests, a practice that was abolished during the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
Referring to the events in Paris, Coe said: "There has to be an assessment and a verification. But it all has to be done in accordance with medical standards and methodology". Coe declined to comment on the specifics of gender-determination tests.
However, politics is putting pressure on: in early January, new US President Donald Trump signed an executive order according to which the US government recognizes only two genders - male and female, which are "unchangeable".
In response, Coe told DW that it was not his job to judge people for how they choose to live their lives. "If you want to moralize, don't go to politics, go to the church," the British candidate for IOC president recommends. "I don't have the philosophy or the expertise to stop transgender athletes from competing and enjoying sport. And I don't want to. But when it comes to elite women's competition, we said "no", period."
"Trust" in anti-doping agency despite China doping scandal
Kou, who won track and field gold medals at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, has an impressive track record as a sports manager. He successfully led London's 2012 Olympic bid. In 2015 becomes head of the IOC. If he takes the top job in the IOC, he will also have to deal with issues such as Russia's participation in international sports competitions in the midst of the war against Ukraine, tensions between the world anti-doping agency WADA and the US government, as well as the impact of climate change on the Olympic calendar. When asked if he could guarantee that under his leadership Russian athletes would not participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo if the war continues, Coe said that position remains unchanged. As for WADA, he notes that he has "confidence" in the organization. The US government has suspended funding to WADA under the pretext that it helped cover up the positive tests of 23 Chinese swimmers before the Tokyo Games in 2021. Coe, for his part, said: "It is important that governments support WADA's ambitions. We have confidence in the way we cooperate with the organization. And I see no reason to question the relationship".
As for climate change, which is increasingly affecting the Olympics - with fewer places with snow in the winter and heat and drought likely to cause more problems for the summer games - Coe said he was open to exploring alternative dates for the Summer Games. "Sports are not always airtight," Coe said, adding that the Summer Games do not necessarily have to be held in the summer months.
Author: Jonathan Crane