IOC presidential candidate Morinari Watanabe has a revolutionary vision for the future of the Olympics. The 65-year-old Japanese, who is considered an outsider in the election campaign to succeed Thomas Bach, is envisioning games in five cities on five continents. Due to the different time zones, the competitions would then take place around the clock.
“I have a crazy idea, but I think young people have even more ideas. My job is to open the door,” Watanabe said in an interview with the AFP news agency. In his opinion, organizing the Olympic Games with a single host has become “oppressive”, and at the same time many interested parties are not being given a chance. “Most people enjoyed the Olympic Games in Paris, but from Asia they seemed very far away,” explained the president of the world gymnastics federation FIG: “I don’t think they created the feeling of unity that was needed were.”
Splitting the Games geographically would create “better conditions for the athletes” by dividing the competitions according to local climatic conditions “so that they would not have to compete early in the morning or late in the evening,” said Watanabe, who is one of seven candidates for the presidential election at the 144th IOC session in Greece (March 18-21).
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