LAUSANNE / AIPS: As an 11-year-old, David Lappartient’s love for the Olympics was sparked by the outstanding performance of Carl Lewis at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Four decades later, the Frenchman is one seven candidates running to be the 10th IOC president, with the election scheduled for March 20 at the IOC Session in Greece.

The now 51-year-old president of the International Cycling Union (UCI) and president of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee outlined his plans for the Olympic movement in the latest q-and-a session organised by AIPS.

Lappartient, who oversaw the creation of Olympic Esports Games as Chair of the IOC Esports Commission, acceoted that the movement faced a challenge in trying to find a consistent approach to the transgender issue.

He said: “Let me tell you just three things. The first one is, we fully respect the rights of people who want to transition. Second point is, any transgender is welcome in the world of sports. Third question is if the participation of the transgender athlete will affect fair competition or not. Is it fundamental right to participate in a competition in the sex you want, or in the sex you were born?

“What I would propose as IOC president, if elected, is to have a debate on this topic, with doctors, human rights activists, transgender athletes, female athletes, using scientific data and so on.

“We had the same debate in my sport and we’ve reached the conclusion that first, even if you can regulate the testosterone level over a period of four years fair competition can still be affected. Second point, your body has, in a way, the memory of what you were before and this can clearly affect fair competition. That said, we took the decision in cycling to not allow transgender athletes compete in the female category.

“Currently at the IOC the situation is that each international federation should implement their own rules, so we are not completely consistent within the Olympic family.

“I think we need to respect human rights and welcome everybody into sports but, at the IOC Session, we also need to discuss how this affects fair competition. It must be a debate with surveys, data and everything.

“So I would propose the organization of a debate with, in fact, two options: whether to keep the current system of going through the IFs, but give some guidelines, or to go directly with the decision from the IOC session regarding participation of transgender athletes in the Olympic Games.

Moving on, Lappartient explained his positive view of esports.

He said: “First of all, we have a kind of mission at the IOC, which is to bring people together in a peaceful way through sports. Esports can also be a tool to bring people together. Look at the new generation, they are gamers, they are playing together. This is why I’m in favour of esports.

“The goal is how we can bring gamers to also do sports, how we can reach a wider audience, how we can renew the audience of the Olympic Games, and I think this is a great opportunity for the IOC. Today the young generation are doing sports and also esports so I think the two can work together.”

Lappartient also expressed his support for greater transparency over the awarding of Olympic Games hosts, particularly after the controvery over the ‘in-house’ selection of Brisbane for 2032.

He said: “The current process of electing an Olympic host involves entering a continuous dialogue, and then a targeted dialogue with one candidate, and then a ratification at the IOC Session – and at the session there is only one choice.

“There were reasons for this process – maybe some inappropriate behaviours. But we are no more in such a situation. With potentially a lot of candidates for 2036 and even 2040, what I am proposing is that when this is necessary, we could enter a targeted dialogue with, for example, three out of seven, eight, nine candidates. Those three candidates will then make their presentations to the members, and then we can have a vote at the session.”

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