“And we can’t allow that to happen.””Hope is the other big thing for me here, and that is the belief that anything is possible.© 2025 AFP”Here I’m not worried because it’s such a phenomenal brand, fantastic brand, that we can do a lot more with it.”Then the international federations would support the venues by allocating […]
“And we can’t allow that to happen.””Hope is the other big thing for me here, and that is the belief that anything is possible.© 2025 AFP”Here I’m not worried because it’s such a phenomenal brand, fantastic brand, that we can do a lot more with it.”Then the international federations would support the venues by allocating World Cup events, so the local organisers have the funding for upkeep to make sure all the venues are tip-top.””That’s something that I’ve done in the FIS.””Kids believing that if they work hard enough, they can do anything. In the disruptive and divisive world that we live in, we need hope.”We have to increase revenues, we have to increase distributions,” he said.He insists, though, that taking the Games to such places does not go against his environmental principles. “We have to think sustainability,” he said. “We have to make sure that new constructions, for instance, have the lowest possible carbon impact.”So it’s a lot of initiatives, it’s a lot of small things which, when added up, has a big impact.”Eliasch, who says he has been inspired on his Olympic journey by sporting feats including the decision by high jumpers Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim to share gold in Tokyo in 2021, said he would like to see Winter Games hosts rotated to increase sustainability.However, he says all those facets can be more than matched, if the right person is at the helm — but if the wrong person is in charge, the IOC risks “falling from the top floor to the ground.”
‘Magic wand’
“We are global, and we have to think global, and we have to stage our events globally,” he said.He is also a proponent of taking the Summer Olympics to previously untapped territory such as Africa, India and the Middle East.”I mean, sustainability and reducing carbon impact is not a magic wand, and suddenly it all disappears.”Hope that things will get better or hope that we can do things better. So hope is kind of the most precious commodity we have, really.”Eliasch says the stakes are so high for global sports that the IOC presidential election cannot be a “popularity contest.”The Anglo-Swedish billionaire businessman and noted environmentalist says the campaign is likely his “last hurrah” and he will learn if he has been successful when the 100-plus IOC members vote on March 20 in Greece.While he hopes for a positive outcome personally — he was “very encouraged” by the feedback after his presentation to fellow members last Thursday — hope is also his message to the sporting world.”We have seen, for instance, Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, where they have done this huge construction with a zero carbon footprint.”We pick, let’s say, eight to 10 venues, so that would be 30 to 40 years, and then we would be basically set,” he said.The 62-year-old president of the International Ski Federation (FIS) was the surprise candidate when seven declared their desire to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), probably the most powerful person in global sport.”Sport has a magic ability to unite people in peace, working together, doing things together,” he said in an interview during a stopover in Paris on his way to the World Skiing Championships in Saalbach, Austria.”As president, I will do a lot more with it to significantly increase the revenues and the distributions and the profits.”It has to be the right person for the job,” he said. “It’s essential, because if you do that, pick the wrong person, I mean, it’s like the choice between prosperity and success or failure and becoming irrelevant.
Eliasch, who listed sustainability and the IOC retaining its political neutrality as crucial pillars of his programme, believes “expectations are so high” owing to the manner in which revenues have grown during Bach’s 12 years in charge.
