(ATR) Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald tells Around the Rings his experience across 26 years on the sports body should be considered in a return to the IOC Executive Board. He is one of five candidates running for two open slots in the September vote.
Oswald, 70, has been an IOC member since 1991, but his ties to the Olympics go back to his youth as a rower.
"Since I joined the Olympic Movement, I have been lucky enough to always play a very active role. Indeed, after having participated in three Olympic Games as a rower (one bronze medal and two diplomas), I became secretary general and then president of [rowing federation] FISA, president of ASOIF and member of several IOC Commissions, notably the Executive Board, and the Juridical Commission," says Oswald.
Oswald served for 12 years as a member of the Executive Board starting in 2000. In 2001, he took over as chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Athens 2004 when Jacques Rogge became IOC President. He reprised the role for London 2012. In 2013 he was one of the candidates running for IOC President.
Oswald is in the final stages of his chairmanship of the Disciplinary Commission studying the findings of the McLaren Report into allegations of systemic doping in Russia.
"All these responsibilities, have given me an exceptional experience and knowledge of the current challenges of sport. It is why I believe that I would be a very useful member of the EB. And I would be honored to serve our Movement in that capacity," Oswald tells Around the Rings.
Other candidates in the election for the Executive Board include Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba , Pal Schmitt of Hungary,Habu Gumel from Nigeriaand Ivan Dibos from Peru.
The elections take place on the final day of the IOC Session in Lima on Sept. 16.
Written by Ed Hula.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
