Behind closed doors at the IOC seven candidates hoping to lead the Olympic body are making key pitches to an exclusive club of more than 100 voters.

Seven International Olympic Committee members are running as candidates to be the next president in its first election since 2013.

The International Olympic Committee has set a Jan. 30 date for its key presidential election meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Two former Olympic champions are in the race to be the next IOC president.

The U.S. State Department says it’s talking with allies about China’s human rights record and how to handle next year’s Beijing Winter Olympics.

Groups representing ethnic minorities in China are again accusing the International Olympic Committee of ignoring widespread human rights abuses as the country prepares to hold the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Rights groups representing Tibetans, Uighurs, and others have sent an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach and IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch, who oversees preparations for the Beijing Games. Rights groups speaking for Tibetans, Uighurs and others representing Hong Kong have sent an open letter to IOC President Thomas Bach and IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who oversees preparations for the Beijing Games. Representative of rights groups met two months ago with IOC leaders but say their requests have been largely ignored. The IOC awarded the 2008 Summer Olympics to Beijing, arguing the event would improve human rights in China.

A coalition of human-rights groups has met with the International Olympic Committee over calls to pull the 2022 Winter Olympics out of Beijing. That was a constant theme at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Beijing wound up with the 2022 Winter Olympics almost by accident. The 2008 Olympics were supposed to change China. “In 2008 the international community strongly believed that bringing the Olympics to China would open up China,” Arkin said.