Some of the biggest names of the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics have thrown their weight behind Sebastian Coe to become the next IOC president. Before the vote in Greece on Thursday, Mo Farah, who won 5,000m and 10,000m gold in London, and Usain Bolt, who took the 100m, 200m and 4 x 100m relay titles, praised Lord Coe’s leadership and backed him for the job.
They have been joined by Paralympians Tanni Grey-Thompson and Ade Adepitan, who commentated on Channel 4 in 2012, who said Coe’s vision for the Paralympics had been transformational and praised his consensual and gamechanging approach.
The race is widely considered to be close with Coe, the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch and the Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry seen as the big three among the seven candidates vying to succeed Thomas Bach.
Coe has positioned himself as the change candidate and believes his plans to bring more debate and fresh air into the IOC, along with promoting the athletes’ voice, is resonating with voters. On Tuesday, Grey-Thompson, the 11-time Paralympic gold medallist who worked with Coe on London’s bid in 2005, said she had seen at close hand the difference he made.
“From the very start it felt the Paralympics were an integral part of it,” she said. “It was mentioned in every discussion: about the village, about transport, about the venue. There was no ‘we’ll get through the Olympics and figure out what we’re going to do with the Paras afterwards’.”
The London Paralympics broke all records, with 2.7 million spectators generating more than £54m in ticket sales. “He drove everything,” said Grey-Thompson. “Seb is a leader, but he’s not afraid to put really good people around him. He doesn’t need to be the smartest person in the room. That’s true leadership, because the leaders who want to be the smartest person in the room will never get the best out of people around them.”
That message was echoed by Adepitan, who said Coe “had the vision to see gold in the Paralympics” long before most others did. “In terms of the wider disability community, things haven’t changed as much as they should have,” he said. “And that’s something I’m eternally frustrated with. What they did do, however, was create a generation of disabled people who now have their own profile and platform.
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“We’ve never had as many high-profile disabled people, people like Ellie Simmonds, David Weir, Hannah Cockroft, Sarah Storey and Jonnie Peacock.
“Without those people, there would not be Alex Brooker and Sophie Morgan, Chris McCausland, who has just won Strictly, and Rose Ayling-Ellis, who won it in 2021. That hails from London 2012. What that summer did was make people see us who never saw us before.”
According to Adepitan, there is a growing cohort who oppose diversity and inclusion that could undo all the work of 2012 in the next few years. “It’s something we have to be really wary of,” he said. “Which is why it’s vital to have Seb, such an impressive operator in the sporting and political worlds, in a position of power to advocate for us.
“He is an embodiment and an example of what can be done when you give disability causes a platform. In the Paralympics, Seb saw gold. He saw what other people didn’t see.”
Farah was also full of praise for Coe’s mentoring and leadership. “He organised a fantastic Olympic Games in London in 2012 and gave me a platform to succeed,” he wrote on social media. “He has always encouraged me on my journey with words of wisdom and advice. He is a great leader and the ideal person to be the next IOC President.”
Bolt hailed Coe’s vision of putting athletes and the next generation at the heart of his manifesto as he backed the Briton to lead the IOC. “Growth and empowerment is what is needed for the future of the Olympic movement,” he said.
