MOSCOW, September 16. /TASS/. International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential candidate Sebastian Coe hates Russia, the most worthy candidate to head the organization is Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, four-time Olympic biathlon champion Alexander Tikhonov told TASS.

Coe heads the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), one of the few organizations in summer Olympic sports that refused to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete even in neutral status.

"I knew Samaranch personally, I was his guest in Barcelona, he was elected in Moscow," Tikhonov said. "And in the whole history there was not and will not be a better IOC president. I think Samaranch has inherited a lot from his father. There is no more worthy candidate," he emphasized.

"I am not the last person in sport and my personal opinion is that all the other candidates are simply not worthy of consideration compared to Samaranch. Coe and many others just hate Russia," he added.

There are seven candidates for the post of IOC president: Coe, Japan's Morinari Watanabe, president of the International Gymnastics Federation, France's David Lapartien, head of the International Cycling Union, Sweden's Johan Eliasch, head of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, vice-president of the International Olympic Committee, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, a member of the IOC Executive Board, and Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry, a two-time Olympic swimming champion.

The current IOC President, Thomas Bach of Germany, will step down next year when his term expires. The election of the new IOC president will take place in Greece in March 2025. The elected head of the Olympic Committee will take office in June.