The race to elect the next head of the Olympics is heating up

On March 20th the 109 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)—a group that includes the grand duke of Luxembourg, a former Costa Rican president and an Oscar-winning actress from Malaysia—will gather at a luxury resort in Greece to elect their new president. The job is one of the most powerful in global sport. More than 200 countries take part in the games. The IOC’s budget is in the billions of dollars and many sports rely on it to survive. The outgoing president, Thomas Bach of Germany (pictured), has been a steady hand on the tiller. During his 12 years in office he has overseen a steep rise in revenue while steering the games through the Russian doping scandal and the covid-19 pandemic. His successor will take charge at a time when difficult decisions loom.