Japan's Watanabe loses bid for IOC Presidency
Japan's Morinari Watanabe on Thursday failed in his bid to become the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee, with the position going to Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry.
Coventry, 41, will be the first female IOC chief and the first from outside Europe and the United States.
Watanabe, 66, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, was the first ever Japanese candidate for the post.
He gained four of the 97 valid votes from IOC members in a ballot at the 144th IOC Session held in Costa Navarino, Greece.
Coventry gained 49 votes, followed by IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, 65, of Spain, with 28 votes and World Athletics head Sebastian Coe, 68, of Britain, with eight votes.
Incumbent IOC President Thomas Bach, 71, who was first elected to the post in 2013, will step down when his term expires in June.
The IOC presidency runs for eight years in principle.
Incumbents can seek reelection once, but their second terms are limited to four years in principle.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
Photo by Reuters
