India, March 12 -- International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president Juan Antonio Samaranch smiles while talking about being involved with the apex sports body for over two decades and "exposed to this world as a child". So, for him running for its presidency in next week's election is a "privilege".

In this interview with HT, the Spaniard, son of the late Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC president from 1980 to 2001, discusses India's universal appeal in the Olympic movement, its 2036 Games bid and climate change possibly forcing the Games to shift timeframes.

Excerpts:

Staging an Olympics is an expensive exercise. We've seen countries pull out of hosting the Commonwealth Games because of that. How can it be addressed?

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