Sebastian Coe IOC President Candidate Speech 

‍Lausanne, 30 Jan 2025

President, Thomas, Colleagues, Friends

There are moments in your life when you find yourself almost standing outside your own body, looking down at what you are doing with a sense of wonder.   The honour of being one of the first athletes invited to address an Olympic Congress back in 1981. That was one of them.

I also had one of those moments in the summer of 2012 when the Olympic and Paralympic Games came back to London, the city of my birth, for the third time, and I joined in the opening ceremony with many of you who are here today to welcome the world to the greatest show on earth.   

When I saw the determination of the competitors, the expectation of the crowds, the pride on the faces of families watching their loved ones compete, and the joy and sense of belonging of every participant of any kind, only then did I truly appreciate what we mean when we say that there is nothing like The Olympic Games.

Even in a life of many privileged and unforgettable moments.  It is a moment I will never forget.

To bring the Olympic and Paralympic Games to London and make it a success took everything I had spent my life developing. 

Well, at least from the age of 11 when my father bought me my first pair of running shoes.  He was my coach for the entirety of my athletics career and my mother was an essential counterweight in the equilibrium of the family - and a constant reminder to all of us of the importance of families in our personal journey.  London 2012 took a commitment to sporting excellence, an ability and willingness to think big, the political experience to overcome any obstacles – which we did.

But it also took one other thing. Something that you simply can’t do without. And something that I now put before you in the most genuine, open way.

A love for this Olympic family.

A belief in this Olympic family.

A commitment to this Olympic family.

We live together. We work together. We stand together

You see, at its heart my candidacy is really quite simple. 

Look around you. Stand outside yourself as I did on that summer night in London and just look at what you are part of. 

Consider this room and think about the people who surround you. In this room are people of extraordinary ability and experience and you are one of them. 

Brains the size of planets. Strength of character and determination in quantities that simply cannot be found in any equivalent group in the world. A purpose and a passion that outpaces anyone.

That is what you are a part of. 

Now imagine if we put all of that to work, that passion, that purpose.   Not just use this room as a rubber stamp.  Not just meet together to nod through work done elsewhere. 

Imagine if we focused this, the greatest room on earth, to power the greatest movement on earth.

BUT it must be all of us, together. That, my friends, is my simple proposition.

Together. That’s my candidacy.

And it is in that spirit that I present to you my priorities for the next four years. 

No, actually, let me put it more accurately.  It is in that spirit that I present to you OUR priorities for the next four years.

Because everything I suggest is something I have heard from you in all the many conversations we have had over the past months, and in some cases, years.

Everything I do will be something that we have worked through together.

Together we will put sport first.

Together we will excite and involve tomorrow’s generation.

Together we will place athletes at the heart of every decision we make. 

Together we will pursue growth opportunities with urgency.

Together we will empower this mighty movement.

All of us here know what excellence requires. That we fly straight and never cut corners. Never relax for a moment while there is work to be done. Never lose sight of the big picture. But that we never lose focus on even the smallest detail. Sound familiar?   Well, it certainly does to me and I know to many of you here today because that is the life of an athlete.

The difference between success and failure is huge, but what makes the difference between success and failure can be tiny.

No voice ignored – and certainly not because it articulates an alternative analysis.  There must be a safe space and there must be time for debate.  No detail overlooked, nothing left undone due to complacency or delusions of grandeur. 

We are going to succeed and we’re going to succeed together. Again, that is my candidacy.

We have had so many conversations about all this. You know who you are. You remember our discussions. 

So, here is what I learned from you. Here’s what I know we have to get right.

That we must never lose sight of what makes the Games special and we are in danger of doing that.

Competition must be fair, integrity absolute and sporting excellence non-negotiable.  All immutable pillars of the Olympic and Paralympic movements. 

So we will maintain a laser-like focus on sporting excellence; we will protect and promote the integrity of women’s sport and we will strengthen anti-doping systems, all of which I have done, together with my Council at World Athletics.   And we will drive greater collaboration between the National Olympic Committees and International Federations.

Here’s what else I have learned from you. Here’s what I know we have to get right.

That our Games will only have the future we want it to have if we act – and act now, together.

In this age of distraction, of endless choices, connecting with youth is a challenge.  And so is optimising the use of cutting-edge technology.

So, we will create a compelling and affordable Games, a Games that inspires global youth, a Games that embraces AI to deliver what our fans tell us they actually want, to turbo charge intelligence led testing in anti-doping and to help talent ID, particularly in smaller NOCs and IFs.

And we will lift sport nearer to the top of Government agendas.  And I know how to do that.

Here is something else I have learned from you. Here’s what I know we have to get right.

We need to respect and value athletes. Prioritise their physical, mental and financial welfare. We are going to listen to them.

But we are going to do more than that. We are going to share with them. We are going to make athletes our commercial partners by giving them rights, data, assets, access and the means to make additional money.

When we say we will go forward together, we will mean it.

And here’s one more thing I learned from you. One more thing I know we have to get right.

We do have to modernise.  In Commission 2000 – which I was a member - and in Agenda 2020+5, under the shrewd leadership of Thomas, we’ve shown an aptitude and attitude for change when it’s needed.

The commercial landscape is not changing.  It has changed.  I know this because that’s the business I have been in for the last three decades.  So, we HAVE to change.  As we have done at World Athletics, which has resulted in an increase in our revenues by more than 25% in the last four years.

We need to convert transactional sponsorships into collaborative partnerships; modernise revenue models with digital-first strategies, particularly for younger audiences; We must unlock the full equity of the Olympic brand.

Above all we have to adopt an Audience First approach.  Deliver what the audience wants, when they want it, where they want it

and with a barrier-free physical and digital experience.

And we will. We will do this…together.  Reform with stability.

If leadership sits with me then power will sit with you.

If power sits with you then we will create an Olympic movement that is accountable, that is transparent, that is efficient, that is expected of us.  And it should be expected of me.  That is why, if I am successful, I will ask you to hold me to account after four years.

Before every Games we carry the torch, passing it from one person to the next, passing our ideals from one person to the next.

And with every person that joins in, the torch inevitably burns just a little bit brighter.

For some the torch is the Olympic symbol, but for me it is the passing that is the real statement of who we are. A chain of people, unbroken, each playing their part, each carrying the movements ideals.

I am not just asking you to cast a vote for me. I am asking you to cast a vote for yourselves. A vote of confidence in all that we can do as partners, as colleagues and as friends.

Make this a moment when we assert ourselves - of the right and the will and the determination and the ambition of this room.

Make this the moment we come together to deliver all that we know we are capable of.

Thank you for your time.

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