Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior was once a perfume salesman. Although he confesses to not knowing how to “distinguish the scents of lavender and lemon”, he counts on his commercial know-how to be elected head of the International Olympic Committee, of which his father was the emblematic boss for twenty years.
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At 65, the son of Juan Antonio Samaranch is one of seven candidates, including the former British Olympic champion Sebastian Coe and the Frenchman David Lappartient, who will seek to succeed the German Thomas Bach at the head of the IOC. His father chaired the body from 1980 to 2001 and the name of Samaranch remains associated with the explosion of Olympic revenues.
Samaranch Junior joined the IOC the year his father withdrew and then was elected vice-president in 2012, but he confides in an interview with AFP “ never having hoped that his name would help him in his Olympic career “, neither ” wouldn’t slow him down “.
This father of four children, who worked in the banking sector after his first professional experience in perfumes, intends to place his presidency under the seal of “ experience, perspective, judgment and collaboration “, he explained to the press on Tuesday.
Russia, hot topic
“ It will take a lot of experience and a lot of perspective to understand the battles to be fought. ” And ” remember that the IOC President must be on an equal footing with giants like the United States, China, the European Union and India, and so you will need to exercise discernment in sit on this tablee “.
Russia remains a hot topic: it marked Thomas Bach’s mandate, first with the doping scandal at the Sochi Winter Games in 2014, then with the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which broke the truce between the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing.
Mr. Samaranch understands that emotions are running high on the question of a possible return of Russia to the sporting fold.
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Ukrainian Sports Minister Matviy Bidnyi said earlier this week that Bach’s successor should, on behalf of ” principles of justice » refuse the return of Russia to the world of sport.
But for Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, once the Russians have fulfilled their obligations vis-à-vis the Olympic Charter – which is not the case at the moment – “ we will have to try to bring the Russian Olympic Committee back into the game “.
“ Our moral compass is the Olympic Charter “, he insists. He confides that it was the “magic” of the recent Summer Games in Paris that made him decide to run.
For him, the priority of the IOC is to “ defend young people and athletes against problems that could arise from the attitudes and actions of their government “.
Gender and transgender
He cites the case of the two female boxers who won gold medals in Paris, the Algerian Imane Khelif and the Taiwanese Lin Yu-ting, who found themselves against their will at the center of a controversy over their gender, led by conservative circles.
Excluded from the 2023 world championships organized by the International Boxing Federation (IBA), chaired by Russian Umar Kremlev, they were authorized by the IOC to compete in Paris. A decision defended by Mr. Samaranch who denounces “the horrible harassment to which they have been victims on social networks” and says he is “proud that we have been at their side and that we still are”.
However, he believes that the issue of transgender athletes is “ different » : « we must 100% protect safety and equal opportunities in women’s competitions “.
He recalls that in a century, the participation rate of women in the Olympic Games has increased from 4% to 50%: “ it’s a remarkable achievement, not for us, but for the companyé » and “I am not ready, if I become president, to allow this great progress to be called into question “.