Tony Estanguet, left, pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron, is not planning to run for IOC Athletes' Commission chair ©Getty Images

France's Tony Estanguet has revealed that he will not run to replace Angela Ruggiero as chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Committee in February as he prioritises his responsibilities as chair of Paris 2024.

Estanguet is the current vice-chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission and had been considered an early favourite to replace United States' Angela Ruggiero when she reaches the end of her eight-years term at the end of next February's Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

There had been a growing feeling in recent weeks, though, that the three-time Olympic slalom canoeing champion would be too busy to perform both roles.

"No, I will not run for this position because I think it is important I prioritise Paris 2024," Estanguet said here in response to a question from insidethegames at the IOC Orientation Seminar for Paris 2024 which began today.

"I will remain very active in the Athletes' Commission, but I will not go for the position of chair.

"It is not good to be everywhere and I have to set priorities.

"Definitely Paris 2024 and this position as Organising Committee chair is most important for me.

"So I will continue as an IOC member in the Athletes' Commission but I will not run for chair."

American Angela Ruggiero is the current chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission but her term will end at the conclusion of next year's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang ©Getty Images
American Angela Ruggiero is the current chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission but her term will end at the conclusion of next year's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang ©Getty Images

Estanguet is also a vice-president of the International Canoe Federation and a member of the Executive and Foundation Boards of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The 39-year-old is also a member of the IOC's Olympic Solidarity, Sustainability and Legacy and Legal Affairs Commissions and is currently heavily involved in the current IOC Disciplinary hearings exploring evidence of alleged doping against individual Russian athletes at Sochi 2014. 

It is very likely that another member of the 2012 Athletes' Commission intake will replace Ruggiero as chair.

Aside from Estanguet, the other four members of this cohort are Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry, Slovakia shooter Danka Bartekova, Swedish high jumper Stefan Holm and Australian rower James Tomkins.

Coventry and Bartekova have been the two most heavily involved in IOC affairs in recent months.

Bartekova is chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Lausanne 2020 Winter Youth Olympic Games, while Coventry is another IOC Athletes' Commission representative on the WADA Foundation Board.

A chair will be recommended by the Athletes' Commission before being approved by the IOC Executive Board.

Ruggiero replaced Germany's Claudia Bokel as chair during last year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.