Thomas Bach

For the American jurist and politician, see Thomas C. Bach.
Thomas Bach

Bach in Doha in 2014
9th President of the
International Olympic Committee
Assumed office
10 September 2013
Honorary President Jacques Rogge
Preceded by Jacques Rogge
Personal details
Born (1953-12-29) 29 December 1953
Würzburg, West Germany
Nationality German
Political party Free Democratic
Alma mater University of Würzburg
Profession Lawyer

Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953 in Würzburg, Germany) is a German lawyer and former Olympic fencer. Bach is the ninth and current President of the International Olympic Committee, and a former member of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund Executive Board.

Fencing career

Thomas Bach
Personal information
Height 171 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Weight 65 kg (143 lb)
Sport
Sport Fencing
Club Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim[1]
Medal record
Representing  West Germany
Olympic Games
1976 Montréal Foil, team
World Championships
1973 Gothenburg Foil, team
1973 Buenos Aires Foil, team
1979 Melbourne Foil, team

Bach is a former foil fencer who competed for West Germany. He won a team gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics,[1] as well as a silver, a gold and a bronze team medals at the 1973, 1977 and 1979 world championships, respectively.[2]

Career

Bach earned a doctor of law (Dr. iur. utr.) degree in 1983 from the University of Würzburg.[3][4][5]

DOSB presidency

Bach served as the President of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund (DOSB), prior to becoming President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). He resigned as the head of the DOSB on 16 September 2013, having served as President since 2006. He was replaced by Alfons Hörmann, and remained a member of the DOSB Executive Board. Additionally, he 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[6]

Bach headed Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.[7] In the host city election, Munich secured 25 votes as Pyeongchang was elected as host city with 63 votes.

IOC presidency

Thomas Bach with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
Like his predecessors Juan Antonio Samaranch and Jacques Rogge, Thomas Bach lives in the Lausanne Palace when he is in Lausanne.[8]

On 9 May 2013, Bach confirmed that he would run for President of the International Olympic Committee.[9][10]

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.[11] Bach will be eligible to run for one additional four-year term at the 133rd IOC Session in 2021 until 2025.[12]

Bach's successful election came against five other candidates, Sergey Bubka, Richard Carrión, Ng Ser Miang, Denis Oswald and Wu Ching-Kuo.[12] The result of the election was as follows:

Election of the 9th IOC President[13]
Candidate Round 1[14] Round 2
Germany Thomas Bach 43 49
Ukraine Sergey Bubka 8 4
Puerto Rico Richard Carrión 23 29
Singapore Ng Ser Miang 6 6
Switzerland Denis Oswald 7 5
Chinese Taipei Wu Ching-kuo 6 —

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".[15] The first bidding process over which he presided as President was 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.

Bach officially moved into the IOC presidential office at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 17 September 2013, a week after being elected President.[16] He speaks fluent French, English, Spanish and German.[17]

Honours

Notes and references

  1. 1 2 "Thomas Bach Olympic Results". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 16 April 2011.
  2. ↑ Fechten - Weltmeisterschaften (Herren - Florett). sport-komplett.de
  3. ↑ "Mr Thomas BACH – Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund , IOC Member since 1991". Olympic.org. 29 December 1953. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  4. ↑ "Vita Thomas Bach : Olympiasieger im Fechten, DOSB-Präsident" (PDF). Dosb.de. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  5. ↑ "Rechtsanwalt Dr. iur. utr. Peter Zimmermann – About me – Dr. iur. utr.". Zimm-recht.com. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  6. ↑ Mackay, Duncan (15 September 2013). "Exclusive: Bach to officially resign tomorrow from DOSB after being elected IOC President". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  7. ↑ "Exclusive: Quality of the 2020 Olympic bidders has put the IOC in a very comfortable position, reveals Bach".
  8. ↑ (French) Laurent Favre and Servan Peca, "Le CIO fait sa mue", Le Temps, Wednesday 15 April 2015, page 9.
  9. ↑ "Nachfolger von Jacques Rogge: Thomas Bach kandidiert für IOC-Präsidentenamt". Spiegel Online. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 8 May 2013.
  10. ↑ "Thomas Bach announces IOC presidential candidacy". Espn.go.com. 9 May 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  11. ↑ Zaccardi, Nick. "Thomas Bach elected as ninth IOC president". NBC OlympicTalk. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Next IOC President to be elected this Tuesday". 9 September 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  13. ↑ "Thomas Bach elected new IOC President". Olympic.org. Retrieved 10 September 2013.
  14. ↑ Ser Miang Ng won round one tie-break vote with 56:36 against Ching-kuo Wu.
  15. ↑ IOC President Wants Changes. gamesbids.com (11 September 2013)
  16. ↑ Mackay, Duncan (17 September 2013). "Bach moves into office at IOC headquarters after becoming new President". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  17. ↑ "Lord of the Rings: new IOC chief Thomas Bach | Sports | DW.COM | 10.09.2013". Dw.de. Retrieved 22 August 2016.
  18. ↑
  19. ↑
  20. ↑ "IOC chief Bach receives honorary doctorate | Photos | Kyodo News". english.kyodonews.jp. Retrieved 2016-11-01.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Thomas Bach.
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Manfred von Richthofen
as President of the Deutscher Sportbund		 President of the Deutscher Olympischer Sportbund
2006–2013 		Succeeded by
Alfons Hörmann
Preceded by
Klaus Steinbach
as President of the Nationales
Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland
Preceded by
Jacques Rogge		 President of the International Olympic Committee
2013–present 		Incumbent
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