IOC presidential election enters final stretch as uncertainty looms

The race to elect the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is reaching its decisive stage with no clear frontrunner, and IOC members prepare to cast their ballots on Thursday.

The new IOC president will be elected at the 144th IOC Session which opened on Tuesday in Ancient Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

The main proceedings are taking place from Wednesday to Friday at Costa Navarino, a coastal resort in southwestern Greece.

Incumbent IOC President Thomas Bach will step down in June after serving a maximum 12-year term.

With over 100 ballots set to be cast, the election will follow a secret ballot system. If no candidate secures an absolute majority in the first round, the lowest-scoring candidate will be eliminated, triggering another round of voting. The process will continue until one candidate emerges victorious.

The winner will serve an eight-year term, with the next IOC presidential election scheduled for 2033.

The seven candidates include IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., Zimbabwe's Olympic swimming champion and sports minister Kirsty Coventry, World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President David Lappartient, International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) President Johan Eliasch, IOC Executive Board Member Prince Feisal Al Hussein, and International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) President Morinari Watanabe.

Despite media speculation, no candidate appears to have an outright advantage, making this one of the most unpredictable IOC elections in recent history.

Lappartient, 51, expects the race to go deep into the voting rounds.

"It's difficult to predict, to be honest. Because there is probably -- it's a little different from last time or the previous editions. It's more of an open race, so really difficult to predict," he said.

As the final hours before the election unfold, discussions continue behind closed doors. Candidates are making their last efforts to appeal to undecided voters, and IOC members are weighing their choices carefully.

During the session, outgoing president Bach was named honorary IOC president for life.

IOC presidential election enters final stretch as uncertainty looms

Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Thursday presided over a State Council executive meeting that studied work on building a unified national market and reviewed and approved a plan for the development of a modern emergency response system during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).

Noting that building a unified national market is essential to advancing high-quality development, the meeting called for deepening institutional frameworks in areas such as property rights protection, market access, fair competition, social credit and market exit mechanisms.

The meeting also urged efforts to advance high-standard connectivity of market infrastructure to facilitate smooth economic circulation and effectively reduce logistics costs across society.

Emergency management is critical to protecting people's lives and property, the meeting said. It called for accelerating the development of a modern emergency response system, deepening reform and innovation in emergency management, and improving coordinated response mechanisms.

Efforts should be made to strengthen risk prevention at the source, enhance monitoring, forecasting and early warning, and accelerate a shift in governance toward proactive prevention, according to the meeting.

A draft revision of the Law on the People's Bank of China was also discussed and approved in principle at the meeting, which decided to submit the draft to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for deliberation.

Chinese premier chairs State Council executive meeting