125th IOC Session

The official banner of the 125th IOC Session.

The 125th IOC Session took place at the Buenos Aires Hilton in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 7 September to 10 September 2013.[1] The International Olympic Committee elected Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympic Games on 7 September. Wrestling was restored to the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024, and Thomas Bach was elected to an eight-year term as IOC President.

The Buenos Aires Hilton where the session was held.

Session host city selection

The IOC received two bids from cities to host the 125th Session: Buenos Aires and Kuala Lumpur made bids. The Argentine capital Buenos Aires was elected at the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver which took place prior to the 2010 Winter Olympics.[2]

2020 Olympic host city election

The members of the IOC elected the host city of the 2020 Olympic Games on 7 September 2013. The candidates were Tokyo, Istanbul, and Madrid. Before the vote the contest was considered to be close between the three cities. Tokyo was awarded 2020 Summer Olympics. The results of the exhaustive ballot were as follows:

The following IOC members were ineligible to vote because they are from countries with a candidate city in the running:

Following Madrid's elimination, the three Spanish IOC members were able to vote in the final round of voting.

Reaction

The announcement was met with jubilation from the Tokyo delegation and across Japan.[3] Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe, who had given a personal address during the presentation stage, said "I would like to thank everyone in the Olympic movement and we will host a wonderful Olympic Games." Japanese fencer Yuki Ota alluded to the 2011 earthquake in a statement to reporters, "After the earthquake everyone in Japan was depressed but now we have to make a dream come true."

Abe's role in the final stages of the bid, including his reassurances to the IOC that Fukushima radiation would not affect Tokyo, was considered to be a major asset. Tokyo's bid had also received support from Princess Hisako and Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah.[4] Madrid's bid was considered to have been hampered by Spain's weak economy and Istanbul's was considered to have been damaged by recent internal political instability and doping scandals as well as match fixing in 2011 (2011 Turkish football corruption scandal). [4][5]

IOC presidential election

On 10 September 2013, Thomas Bach of Germany was elected to succeed Jacques Rogge as IOC President, winning in two rounds of voting, over five other candidates. The results of the vote were as follows:

Election of the 9th IOC President[6]
Candidate Round 1 Runoff Round 2
Germany Thomas Bach 43 — 49
Ukraine Sergey Bubka 8 — 4
Puerto Rico Richard Carrión 23 — 29
Singapore Ng Ser Miang 6 56 6
Switzerland Denis Oswald 7 — 5
Chinese Taipei Wu Ching-kuo 6 36 —

Election of new IOC members

Nine individuals were elected IOC members at the 125th IOC Session on 10 September:

Olympic gold order

King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands was awarded this highest IOC honor on Sunday 8 September after he relinquished his membership to focus on matters at home.[7]

Potential new sports

The IOC considered adding wrestling, squash and baseball/softball to the program for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[8] The results of the vote on 8 September 2013 were:

Election of the new sport for 2020[9]
Sport Round 1
Wrestling 49
Baseball/softball 24
Squash 22

Baseball/softball

Baseball was first played at the Summer Olympics as a demonstration sport at the 1904 Olympics in St. Louis. It was then played as a Demonstration sport at the Summer Olympics in 1912, 1936, 1956, 1964, 1984 and 1988. At the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Baseball made its debut as an official medal sport. It was then present at each Summer Olympic Game until the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing where it was last played at the Olympic Games.

Softball was played at the Summer Olympics from 1996 to 2008.

The governing bodies for Baseball (International Baseball Federation) and Softball (International Softball Federation) ultimately merged to form the World Baseball Softball Confederation in 2013. Both Baseball and Softball were able to have a singular bid for joining the Olympic program.[10]

Squash

Squash has been played at various international sporting events. It is played in more than 185 countries and by millions worldwide.[11] It has been played at the Pan American Games since 1995 and the All-Africa Games since 2003. It has also been played at both the Commonwealth Games and the Asian Games since 1998.

The sport is governed by the World Squash Federation. (Bid)

Wrestling

Wrestling is practiced all around the world - officially in 177 countries, some of which participate in the Olympic program just in this sport. It was initially dropped from the program for the 2020 games; however, the sport will have the opportunity to retain its spot in the Olympics. Wrestling will still be part of the program at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Wrestling was first introduced in the ancient Olympic Games in 708 BC and was a sport practiced in all the ancient Olympics from then till their abolition in 323 AD. It has been played at the Summer Olympics since the 1896 Olympics in Athens, and it has been a part of all modern Olympics except the 1900 Olympics in Paris.[12]

The sport is governed by the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Visita de la Comisión Evaluadora del COI a Buenos Aires
  2. ↑ http://www.gz2010.cn/10/0212/10/5VAIVTOM007801VF.html
  3. ↑ "Olympics 2020: Tokyo wins race to host Games". BBC. 7 September 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  4. 1 2 Bond, David (8 September 2013). "Olympics 2020: Why Tokyo is a 'safe pair of hands' to host Games". BBC. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  5. ↑ Gibson, Owen (7 September 2013). "Tokyo wins race to host 2020 Olympic Games". Guardian. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
  6. ↑ "Thomas Bach elected new IOC President". Olympic.org. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  7. ↑ "New Dutch King awarded Olympic gold order, receiving IOC’s highest honor after stepping down". washingtonpost.com. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  8. ↑ IOC: Baseball/softball, squash and wrestling make cut for IOC Session vote in Buenos Aires
  9. ↑ "Wrestling added to Olympic programme for 2020 and 2024 Games". Olympic.org. 2012-08-12. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  10. ↑ International Baseball Federation (2013-04-14). "New World Baseball Softball Body born at historic Tokyo Congress". Ibaf.org. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  11. ↑ "World Squash Federation Welcomes International Olympic Committee Sport Shortlist Decision for 2020 Games". Squash 2020. 2013-05-29. Retrieved 2013-09-09.
  12. ↑ "Wrestling to be dropped from 2020 Olympic Games". Bbc.co.uk. 2013-02-12. Retrieved 2013-09-09.

External links

Coordinates: 34°36′21″S 58°21′49″W / 34.6058°S 58.3636°W / -34.6058; -58.3636

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