NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE. Eleven years ago, I had the pleasure of asking all six candidates for the IOC presidency for a very personal testimonial. I asked the six gentlemen to complete the following sentence on a white sheet of paper:
"I am the right IOC president because ..."
The result is a modest little historical documentation. I really like it. Take a look at the answers below, it's done quickly, you won't need much time.
It is the question of the day, the coming weeks, months and years!
Yesterday evening around 18.45 CET a lot has changed in the Olympic world! The race is about to start. Of course Bach will have his favourite/s, but things are slowly crumbling in the Olympic monolith.
Jens Weinreich
In the exciting months ahead, THE INQUISITOR will most probably be your best source worldwide for all information, backgrounds, documents and analyses - and certainly a bit of gossip, be honest, you want it too!
Important decisions are being made for the future of world Olympic sport - everything is interwoven: the IOC presidency, the Russia issue, the Football World Cup in Saudi Arabia 2034, the 2036 and 2040 Summer Olympics, the 2030 Winter Games (who knows what else will happen there) and 2038 ... and much more. There could be landslide changes.
All the more reason to have independent journalism that focuses entirely on these key issues!
You will always be kept up to date with first-class information on both platforms. I am thrilled to do that - and my colleagues as well.
This will work all the better the more of you not only read along quietly and free of charge, but also take out subscriptions.
Jens Weinreich
Journalism is not just a craft and a vocation, it is a job with which journalists have to pay their bills and do their research. So please do your bit, just as you pay for your bread rolls or croissants at the bakery and your electricity and water bills at home. Ideally with an annual subscription - from today the normal prices apply again, without the Paris ticket. Thank you!
And of course, each of the candidates who emerge from a circle of self-appointed and speculative candidates - whether Kirsty Coventry, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Sebastian Coe, Prince Feisal Al-Hussein, Nenad Lalović, Nicole Hoevertsz, Neven Ilic, Morinari Watanabe, David Lappartient, Ingmar De Vos, Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant, Luis Alberto Moreno, Princess Reema bint Bandar Al-Saud or whoever else comes along and actually applies - I will once again ask for a handwritten answer to this question.
Those officials should better subscribe immediately otherwise they are going to miss a lot.
Anyone who wants to can write on a blank sheet of paper, scan it and send it to this email address: OlympicLeaks@pm.me.
It's a Proton address, which offers a minimum of security. If you folks, a four-digit number of individuals from the executive floors of the IOC, from the IOC membership and from the boards and administrations of more than 100 world federations and institutions are reading along here ... if you have information, tips and documents, send it to us at any time!
Everything will be treated confidentially.
We want to publish as much as possible, don't we? Let's stick to the fourth word that was added to the Olympic motto under president Bach: together!
With this in mind, have fun on the last day in Paris, enjoy our coverage and stay curious - and take a look at what the 2013 IOC presidential candidates have noted.
"I am the right IOC President because ..."
Thomas Bach
Ser-Miang Ng
Sergey Bubka
Ching-Kuo Wu
Denis Oswald
Richard Carrión
