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Successor Schmitt says Samaranch has no favorites race
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) -- Hungary's candidate in the race for president of the International Olympic Committee said Friday he believes current president Juan Antonio Samaranch has no personal favorites among the candidates. Pal Schmitt, 59, made the comments on a morning talk show on commercial ATV television. "All of us have completed the Samaranch school. He hasn't committed himself to any of us," Schmitt said. Five candidates are in the race to succeed Samaranch, who will step down on July 16 in Moscow after 21 years as head of the IOC. Dick Pound of Canada, Jacques Rogge of Belgium and Kim Un Yong of South Korea are considered the leading candidates. The fifth contender is Anita DeFrantz of the United States Schmitt is considered an outsider in the race. He has no real power base within the IOC but says he would be an ideal candidate because of his experience as a Hungarian diplomat. He has also stated that he wants to control size of the games, rotate them between continents and crack down on doping. "We will be judged by whatever we've done in the Olympic movement," Schmitt said. Member of the Hungarian fencing team that won gold medals at the Olympics in Mexico (1968) and Munich (1972), Schmitt has been a member of the IOC since 1983 and president of the Hungarian National Olympic Committee since 1989. Schmitt did caution that there should be no tension among the candidates in the post- Samaranch era. "We can't afford to have tension in our relationship after the election. We will all have to work together," he said. Regarding China's bid to host the 2008 Games, Schmitt said in the television interview that he considered they had outstanding chances. "It would be fantastic for a country with 1 billion population to hold the Olympics," he said.
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