Dear presidents, Dear congress delegates, Dear friends,
I want to start by saying thank you Hansjörg (Wirz) and congratulations on being named Honorary President. I hope you have a big carry-on bag, because you will need it to bring this statue (a gift to Wirz) to Schaffhausen on the flight tomorrow.
Next, I would like to thank all the people who have been supporting me for years, who told me to try again after the last European Athletics election in London. Thank you, all of you. I cannot mention each one because if I try I will probably forget someone and that would not be nice. But I will mention one person, Vice President Karel Pilny, who received the Honorary Member of Council award today. He has been a fantastic motivator and an advisor about a part of Europe that I do not know enough. Without him and a least ten other friends who have committed themselves and dedicated their time to me, who have told me ‘Svein, you cannot say this’ – usually I can say everything, but I listened to them - I would not be here today.
It was a very healthy presidential campaign. It has all been in a very good spirit. I want to thank Antti [Pihlakoski] and Jean [Gracia]. There has not been one bad word throughout the whole campaign, as far as I know. I am proud to have friends like these two with me on the Council.
I also want to thank all the vice presidential and Council candidates. Your candidatures show that you really care deeply about our sport and that you are committed to European Athletics. Whether you were successful or not this time, I believe it is necessary to draw on your energy and your ideas. I can promise that all of you will be invited to join one or more of our commissions because we need you to help create the future for our sport.
It is hard to express my feelings at this moment. I am honoured. I am humbled. I am grateful. I am looking to the future with anticipation, determination and optimism for European Athletics.
I have been half way up this mountain before. But now, finally, I am at the top and I can look out at the view. From here I can see the faces of my friends, my supporters, my colleagues, including those who might not have voted for me. I have heard all of you today. I know you are expecting leadership and change. My first message is that I will need you, European Athletics will need you, all of you, in the coming months and years.
On the horizon, four years or more from now, I can see a different era for athletics. It is a time when we are more unified, coordinated and professional on both the national and international levels. Together we are driving a sport that has been re-imagined and redesigned to be stronger commercially and a more important part of European culture. I see the rest of the athletics world coming to Europe, not to exploit us or take what we have, but to help us and themselves succeed.
In between now and then, I can see a time of constant evolution and, occasionally, revolution. I see a time of hard work and long days. I see a time of teamwork and commitment, by all of us, for the future of our sport. You might think you have elected a new president and a new council today. But what has really happened is that you have started a four-year process in which you will change athletics for the better.
Those of you who have read my manifesto already know some of the detail of what we, together, are going to try to make happen to achieve this change. Since it was published I have had feedback, from presidents, from federations, from others around our sport. Thank you. You have given me even more good ideas and a heightened sense of urgency.
We have a lot to do and not very much time to do it. We are starting now.
What I can tell you now is the plan for the next few days and weeks.
This afternoon, I want to meet with Director General Christian Milz as soon as possible and then with the three newly elected vice presidents.
Tomorrow, we will have a short Council meeting.
On Wednesday I will meet with the staff in Lausanne. We have a great team in the office and I think we are all very proud of the job they are doing to support us and European Athletics.
In the coming weeks I will get briefings from Hansjörg and others about the transition and related issues. In addition, all federations will receive a letter requesting suggestions of good people to be on our commissions and project teams.
We will not be asking for involvement. We will be looking for commitment.
I expect your nominations to reflect this. I also expect that you will contact me, or the Council members or the office if you have a concern or an idea. We will be in the listening mode.
The first full Council meeting will be in Oslo, from 12 to 14 June. This is because on the 11th, the Bislett Games, which I and many of the athletes in the room have been involved with, will be celebrating its 50-year anniversary. I am very proud of the event and I look forward to welcoming the Council members to Oslo at that time.
By then we will have a new vision statement to work from and some project teams will already be appointed and started working. If all goes well, we will confirm the appointment of our commissions and agree on a long-term work plan.
In October, when we all come together in Lausanne, you will see a difference in our Convention. For one thing, you will get a first progress report in writing before you arrive. You can then ask us what you want about the direction we are going and the choices that have been made.
Because you have invested trust and hope in me, and because all federations have different priorities and points of view, I am expecting the discussions in Lausanne to be lively. Maybe even tough.
But this is how we will shape the future. There will be transparency, all of us will be contributing our ideas and all of us will put in real effort.
The key, and what I am expecting from everyone, will be commitment.
So I want to end today by making sure you understand how I see the difference between involvement and commitment: Think of eggs and bacon. The chicken is involved . . . but the pig is committed.
Let’s get to work.
Thank you very much.