COSTA NAVARINO, Greece (AP) — The IOC is the undisputed champion of running the most tightly managed sports election, one compared by veteran Olympic watchers to a conclave to pick a pope.
Some of the seven presidential candidates in the contest on Thursday have aired frustrations with getting limited access to their fellow International Olympic Committee members during a five-month campaign. The voters themselves will get minimal updates between rounds of casting secret ballots on election day.
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FILE - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, left, and IOC member and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry, right, speak during a press conference after the executive board meeting of the IOC, at the Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach leaves after a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sebastian Coe speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, left, and IOC member and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry, right, speak during a press conference after the executive board meeting of the IOC, at the Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks during a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
“It has been difficult to engage,” one leading contender, Sebastian Coe, told reporters last week before heading to Greece. “In future, this just needs to be a more open and expansive process. I think the membership deserves that.”
Those members are as quirky and curious a collective as the sets of IOC election rules that bind them.
Among the 109 eligible voters in the IOC’s invited and exclusive club are royal family members, including the Emir of Qatar, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders including billionaires, present and past Olympic athletes plus Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh.
Only IOC members can stand as candidates and a long-time perception has been that outgoing president Thomas Bach has promoted a protégé he hopes will win — even if playing a favorite would seem to breach political neutrality the Olympic movement holds dear.
Bach declined to be drawn in detail on Monday when asked if he intervened with voters on behalf of Kirsty Coventry, the two-time swimming gold medalist from Zimbabwe. She would be the first woman and first African president in the IOC’s 131-year history.
“What I felt obliged to say about the profile of my successor I have said in Paris," said Bach, whose hands-on executive presidency ends formally in June after the term-limited 12 years.
Seven months ago at the Paris Olympics, Bach said “new times are calling for new leaders,” citing the need for a successor immersed in a “technological tsunami” of the digital world.
“I have nothing to add to this,” he said on Monday. He spoke at a news conference after chairing a meeting of his executive board that includes three of the seven candidates, including Coventry.
Coventry is the only woman in the race and just the second-ever female candidate to lead the IOC. A win on Thursday for the sports minister of Zimbabwe would add to Bach’s legacy of gender equality policies.
“I don’t feel that he is out campaigning for me,” she told reporters in an online call in January, adding she “had a good relationship with President Bach since 2013.”
IOC election rules barred candidates from publishing campaign videos, organizing public meetings or taking part in public debates. Voters could not publicly endorse their pick.
Candidates were allowed to write a manifesto the IOC published on the same day in December, then make just one official presentation to their voters at Olympic headquarters in January. Voters could not ask any questions after each 15-minute presentation that was not broadcast.
“If I was the president I think I’d be a little more flexible,” Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan said that day in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The seven candidates have no official media event before Thursday’s vote, though all will go on Tuesday to nearby Ancient Olympia. A formal ceremony there with a Bach speech opens an election gathering that runs through Friday.
The IOC has changed its original plan to cut the online stream of its meeting at a resort hotel when the election process starts on Thursday at about 4 p.m. in Greece (1400 GMT). Members will still have their phones and tablets collected and stored.
Most IOC staff must leave the room so only voters and essential election monitors stay. When a winner emerges the doors will open, the streamed broadcast turned back on and the announcement made.
About 100 members should be present and eligible in the first round to cast electronic votes. Candidates can vote but any compatriot is excluded for as long as they stay in the contest.
One of the expected strong contenders, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch, can vote for himself but his fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, the two-time NBA champion, cannot.
“Members should vote for what they believe is best for the Olympic movement," Samaranch said on Monday in a statement. “It is not about personalities or friendships. And it is definitely not about identity politics.”
The winner must get an absolute majority that likely will not happen in the first round. Several rounds could be needed. Until there is a winner, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated. If there is a tie for the lowest total, a runoff vote between them will decide who is eliminated.
However, voters will not be told the totals for each candidate after each round. Instead, Bach “will announce only the name of the candidate who will not participate in the following round of voting,” the IOC rules state.
Bach “will not exercise his right to vote but he reserves his right to exercise a casting vote.”
The next IOC president — just the 10th ever — will take office on Olympic Day, June 23, at a ceremony in Lausanne.
AP Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach leaves after a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP, File)
FILE - Candidate to the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Sebastian Coe speaks during a press conference following a presentation before their fellow IOC members in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Jan 30, 2025 (Fabrice Coffrini/Pool Photo via AP)
FILE - International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, left, and IOC member and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry, right, speak during a press conference after the executive board meeting of the IOC, at the Olympic House, in Lausanne, Switzerland, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2020. (Laurent Gillieron/Keystone via AP, File)
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach speaks during a press conference, ahead of the 144th session which will elect the new IOC President, in Costa Navarino, southwestern Greece, Monday, March 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Israel launched a wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday, saying it was hitting Hamas targets in its heaviest assault in the territory since a ceasefire took effect in January.
The strikes killed more than 320 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he ordered the strikes because of a lack of progress in talks to extend the ceasefire. Officials said the operation was open-ended and was expected to expand. The White House said it had been consulted and voiced support for Israel’s actions.
Hamas warned that Israel’s new airstrikes breached their ceasefire and put the fate of hostages in jeopardy.
The surprise attack shattered a period of relative calm during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and raised the prospect of a full return to fighting in a 17-month war that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians and caused widespread destruction across Gaza.
Here's the latest:
The United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres says he is “shocked” by the Israeli airstrikes in Gaza and has called for the ceasefire in Gaza to be respected.
Guterres, in a statement, called for humanitarian aid to resume for people in Gaza and for the hostages held by Hamas to be released unconditionally.
Freed British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari says her “heart is broken, crushed and disappointed” by the resumption of fighting in Gaza. In a story on Instagram shared by Israeli media, she said she would keep fighting for the remaining hostages.
Gaza’s Health Ministry says Israeli strikes across the territory have killed at least 326 people. The wave of strikes that began early Tuesday is among the deadliest since the start of the 17-month war.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called for the ceasefire to be maintained following Israel’s attack on Gaza.
“There’s already been enormous suffering there, which is why we’re calling upon all parties to respect the ceasefire and hostage deal that was put in place,” Albanese told reporters.
“We’ll continue to make representations. Australia will continue to stand up for peace and security in the region,” he added.
An Israeli airstrike flattened a prison run by the Hamas-led government in Gaza Strip, killing dozens of prisoners and policemen, according to hospital records.
The prison was located in the urban Shati refugee camp in Gaza City. Associated Press footage showed a collapsed building and people trying to reach bodies buried under the rubble.
The bodies of more than three dozen prisoners and guards were taken to the nearby Shifa hospital.
The Hamas-run government operates a police force that numbered in the tens of thousands before the war and quickly returned to the streets after a ceasefire took hold in January.
The Israeli military ordered people to evacuate eastern Gaza and move toward the center of the territory after Israel carried out a wave of airstrikes across the territory.
The orders issued Tuesday indicate Israel could launch renewed ground operations.
The Hamas-run Education Ministry in the Gaza Strip says classes have been suspended in dozens of schools that had recently reopened.
The decision came after Israel launched a wave of heavy airstrikes across Gaza early Tuesday, shattering a nearly two-month ceasefire.
Schools shut down across Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack ignited the war, and most were converted to shelters for displaced people.
The ministry said it had resumed classes in around 70 schools in recent weeks.
A United Nations staffer in the Gaza Strip described a “very tough night” as Israel resumed heavy strikes across the territory after a nearly two-month ceasefire.
Rosalia Bollen, a communications specialist with the U.N. children’s agency, said she woke up around 2 a.m. on Tuesday to “very loud explosions.”
She said the UNICEF bass near the southern city of Rafah “was shaking very heavily.” When the strikes subsided, she heard “people yelling, people screaming and ambulances.”
“The bombardments have continued throughout the night,” though at a lower intensity than the initial barrage, she said. “The whole night, there’s been just the constant buzzing of drones and planes flying over.”
She said the strikes hit tents and structures housing displaced families. “We’re seeing, as of this morning, at least several dozen children killed,” she said.
The main group representing the families of hostages held in Gaza has slammed the decision to return to fighting, saying the move shows the government “chose to give up on the hostages.”
The Hostages Families Forum said “military pressure endangers hostages.” It asked the government in a post on X why it “backed out of the agreement” with Hamas that set out a release of all the living hostages in exchange for an end to the war.
“We are shocked, angry, and terrified by the deliberate dismantling of the process to return our loved ones from the terrible captivity of Hamas,” the group said.
A key governing partner of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu welcomed the return to fighting in Gaza.
Bezalel Smotrich had threatened to leave the government if fighting did not resume, which would imperil Netanyahu’s rule. Critics said those political considerations were influencing Netanyahu’s wartime decision-making.
“We remained in the government for this moment despite our opposition to the (ceasefire) deal, and we are more determined than ever to complete the task and destroy Hamas,” Smotrich posted on X.
Israeli strikes across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 235 people, according to local hospitals.
The toll from the strikes overnight and into Tuesday is based on records from seven hospitals and does not include bodies brought to other, smaller health centers.
Rescuers are still searching for dead and wounded.
North Korea has criticized the United States over its new campaign of airstrikes targeting Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
The state-run KCNA news agency on Tuesday quoted Ma Tong Hui, North Korea’s ambassador to Egypt and concurrently to Yemen, as describing the attacks as a “wanton violation of all international laws including the U.N. Charter and it is an open encroachment upon the sovereignty of other nation that can never be justified.”
He also criticized “U.S. hooliganism.”
Trump during his first term held summits with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but the diplomacy collapsed over disagreements on US sanctions.
A senior Hamas official says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to launch widespread strikes on the Gaza Strip amounts to a “death sentence” for the remaining hostages held there.
In a statement early Tuesday, Izzat al-Risheq, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, accused Netanyahu of resuming the war to try and save his far-right governing coalition.
“Netanyahu’s decision to return to war is a decision to sacrifice the (Israeli) occupation’s captives and a death sentence against them,” he said.
He said Israel didn’t respect its commitments in the ceasefire deal reached in January and urged mediators to “reveal facts” on which side broke the agreement.
National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes said the militant group “could have released hostages to extend the ceasefire but instead chose refusal and war.”
U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, who has been leading mediation efforts along with Egypt and Qatar, had earlier warned that Hamas must release living hostages immediately “or pay a severe price.”
Israeli officials said the latest operation was open-ended and was expected to expand.
“Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says the “Trump administration and the White House were consulted by the Israelis on their attacks in Gaza tonight.”
“As President Trump has made it clear, Hamas, the Houthis, Iran — all those who seek to terrorize not just Israel, but also the United States of America — will see a price to pay: All hell will break lose,” Leavitt continued, speaking to Fox News on Monday evening.
Leavitt is one of three administration officials who face a lawsuit from The Associated Press on First- and Fifth-Amendment grounds. The AP says the three are punishing the news agency for editorial decisions they oppose. The White House says the AP is not following an executive order to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America.
The bodies of Palestinians killed in Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli army airstrikes are brought to Shifa hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A body of a Palestinian killed in an Israeli army airstrikes is brought to Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Tuesday, March 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A dead person killed during an Israeli army strike is taken into the hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, Tuesday March 18, 2025.(AP Photo/ Mohammad Jahjouh)
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of destroyed homes and buildings in Jabaliya, northern Gaza Strip on Friday, March 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
Palestinians walk surrounded by the rubble of destroyed homes and building in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City, Friday, March 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
