Sawt Falasteen - Lappartient aims for IOC presidency and world harmony

Lappartient, the head of the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) and the president of international cycling's governing body, the UCI, is one of seven candidates vying to succeed Thomas Bach as IOC head in a vote in March.

Insiders see Lappartient, an IOC member, as one of the frontrunners along with British Olympic legend and World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, and Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry.

Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior is also thought to have a chance.

Russia "are destined to naturally regain a place in the world of sport," the 51-year-old Frenchman told AFP in an interview.

Russia was largely excluded from last summer's Olympics in Paris following the invasion of Ukraine, but Lappartient sees them returning.

"Historically, Russians have always been a sporting nation and the very role and mission of the IOC is to unite people in a more peaceful way through sport," he said.

"They are destined to naturally regain a place in the world of sport. There will be a decision to be taken in due course on the subject, but a country is not destined to be permanently excluded from the Olympic movement, that's clear."

- 'Trump supports sport' -

Lappartient said he had no worries about Trump's return as US president, who in the late 1980s dabbled in cycling promotion.

"I don't think it's disputed that he loves sport. He even organised the 'Tour de Trump', a competitor to the Tour de France. I tell myself that a man who organises bike races, by definition, there may be something good!" said Lappartient.

"He supports sport in general."

Lappartient said meeting Trump would be high on his list of priorities, along with visiting the site of the 2026 Winter Olympics, Milan-Cortina, and the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

"It will be an opportunity to reaffirm the autonomy of the sports movement, (and state) that it is up to the IOC to define who should and should not participate in the Games."

The US government has started withholding its contributions to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in a dispute over a doping scandal involving Chinese swimmers.

Lappartient said this was part of a pattern of American hostility to international agencies and warned it could have an impact on the successful bid to host the 2034 Winter Games.

"We can see that with the exit from the World Health Organization, the exit from the climate agreement, there is a desire to call multilateralism into question," he said.

"This will naturally be an issue, and I remind you that the awarding of the 2034 Olympics to Salt Lake City is conditional on this subject."

The participation of transgender athletes could also be a topic for discussion with Trump.

"Everyone is welcome in the world of sport, transgender people are welcome. But the participation of transgender people in competitions in the gender in which they would like to compete is not a fundamental right," Lappartient said.

He said that while transgender participation "can have an influence" in athletics or cycling, it might not in equestrianism.

"The IOC says that it must be regulated sport by sport, which is not illogical," he said.

"I think we can't do without scientific research, which takes time."

He said both the recent fires in Los Angeles and the challenges facing winter sports were a product of environmental changes.

"The facts show us that there is global warming," he said, adding he had no "major concerns" about Los Angeles' ability to host the Olympics.

"The Winter Games are more victims of global warming," he added.

"Artificial snow does not necessarily seem to me necessarily a bad thing."

Lappartient said his broad experience and his relative youth -- he is 17 years younger than Coe -- made him a strong candidate.

"I may be unusual because I know the two pillars of Olympism, which are the international federations and the national Olympic committees, like Seb Coe," he said.

"I also combine youth and experience, because you still have to be connected with the real world."

R.Shaban--SF-PST