Thomas Bach

For the US jurist and politician, see Thomas C. Bach.
His Excellency
Thomas Bach
9th President of the
International Olympic Committee
Assumed office
10 September 2013
Preceded by Jacques Rogge
Personal details
Born (1953-12-29) 29 December 1953
Würzburg, West Germany

Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953 in Würzburg) is a German lawyer and former fencer. He is the ninth and current president of the International Olympic Committee and member of the DOSB executive board.

Fencing career

Thomas Bach
Medal record
Men's fencing
Representing  West Germany
Club FC Tauberbischofsheim
Olympic Games
1976 Montréal Foil, team

Bach is a former fencer of the Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim. He competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal and won a gold medal in the team foil event, representing West Germany.[1][2] A year later he was crowned world champion at the World Championship in Buenos Aires.

DOSB presidency

Thomas Bach served as the president of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB) prior to becoming the IOC President. He resigned as the head of DOSB on 16 September 2013, having served as president since 2006, was replaced by Alfons Hörmann, and remained a member of the DOSB executive board. In addition he also resigned as the head of Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Bach will however continue to serve as the head of Michael Weinig AG Company, a company in the industrial woodworking machinery industry that has its headquarters in Bach's hometown of Tauberbischofsheim, Germany[3]

Bach headed Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[4] In the host city election, Munich secured 25 votes as Pyeongchang was elected as host city with 63 votes.

IOC presidency

Thomas Bach with President Putin at 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony.
As Juan Antonio Samaranch and Jacques Rogge, Thomas Bach lives in the Lausanne Palace when he is in Lausanne.[5]

On 9 May 2013, Bach confirmed that he would run for President of the International Olympic Committee.[6][7]

Bach was elected to an eight-year term as IOC President at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires on 10 September 2013. He secured 49 votes in the final round of voting, giving him the majority needed to be elected. He succeeds Jacques Rogge who served as IOC President from 2001 to 2013.[8] Bach will be eligible to run for one additional four-year term at the 133rd IOC Session in 2021 until 2025.[9]

Bach's successful election came against five other candidates, Sergey Bubka, Richard Carrión, Ng Ser Miang, Denis Oswald and Wu Ching-Kuo.[9] The result of the election was as follows:

Election of the 9th IOC President[10]
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 —

Following his election as IOC President, Bach stated that he wished to change the Olympic bidding process and make sustainable development a priority. He stated that he feels that the current bidding process asks "too much, too early".[11] The first bidding process he will preside over as President will be the bidding process for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Bids were due in November 2013 and the host city, Beijing, was elected at the 128th IOC Session in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in July 2015.

Thomas Bach officially moved into the IOC Presidential office at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne on 17 September 2013, a week after being elected President.[12] He speaks fluent French, English, Spanish and German.[13]

Honours

Notes and references

External links

Civic offices
Preceded by
Belgium Jacques Rogge		 President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
2013–present 		Incumbent
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