The winner will get an eight-year mandate with key issues including steering the Olympics on a smooth path in politics and sports toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
By GRAHAM DUNBAR, Associated Press Sports Writer
COSTA NAVARINO, Greece A new president of the IOC will be elected Thursday, just the 10th leader in its 131-year history after one of the most open Olympic elections in decades.
The winner will get an eight-year mandate with key issues including steering the Olympics on a smooth path in politics and sports toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles and picking a host for the 2036 edition. That could go to India or the Middle East for the first time.
Voting by about 100 eligible International Olympic Committee members is scheduled to start at 4 p.m. local time. The result should be known within 30 minutes.
Seven IOC members are on the ballot chasing an absolute majority of votes for victory at a resort hotel near the site of Ancient Olympia.
The strongest candidates in a hard-to-call contest seem to be IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch and a pair of two-time Olympic gold medalists, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry.
