Ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympics, David Lappartient has been appointed as the new French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) President with a huge margin of about 80 percent of the votes.
Lappartient, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is set to guide the CNOSF through the final phase of preparations for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games and is expected to help steady the activities of the organization after months of crisis.
David Lappartient est élu président du #CNOSF pic.twitter.com/wwSvGiYDrY
— FranceOlympique (@FranceOlympique) June 29, 2023
The 50-year-old French politician was elected with a total of 36 votes from a possible 45 and will replace Brigitte Henriques, who resigned last month amid the financial probes facing the organization.
The International Cycling Union (UCI) President defeated Emmanuelle Bonnet-Oulaldj, the joint leader of the Workers’ Sports and Gymnastics Federation (FSGT).
Lappartient is set to finish Henriques’ tenure, which runs until 2025, after he is formally sworn in at the upcoming General Assembly set to take place on September 13.
However, the newly-elected president revealed that he does not intend to contest for another term once this one ends, as his only task is to majorly stabilize the body before, during, and after the Games, which are scheduled to begin on July 26 next year.
This marks the second time that Bonnet-Oulaldj has lost out on the Presidency after finishing third in the 2021 election.
Lappartient announced his candidacy just under two weeks ago, one day after Bonnet-Oulaldj, and insisted that it was “now necessary to pacify relations and encourage the coming together of all the players in French sport”.
He has led the UCI since 2017, securing a second four-year term in 2021, and became an IOC member last year.
