Buenos Aires, 10th September German sports leader Thomas Bach today became the ninth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), following two rounds of votes at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which saw him prevail over fellow presidential candidates Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Ser Miang Ng (Singapore), Denis Oswald (Switzerland) and Ching-kuo Wu (Chinese Taipei). Right from the first round it was Bach and Carrion who got the most votes, whilst Ser Miang Ng and Ching-Kuo Wu placed third with the same number of votes, resulting in a tie-break, whilst in the second round Bach won with 49 votes against Carrion’s 29.
A former IOC vice-president and President of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB), Bach, who will be sixty next 29th December, was indeed the favourite to win the presidential campaign. An Olympic medallist in fencing at Montreal 1976, he became an IOC member in 1991 ahead of joining its Executive Board in 1996 and becoming vice-president in 2000.
“Thank you very much to all of you,” said Bach following his election. “Let us, this great universal orchestra of IOC members, play together in harmony towards a bright future for the Olympic Movement under the leadership of the IOC.”
The new President replaces Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year tenure officially ends at the close of the 125th IOC Session today. The President is elected by the IOC members by secret ballot for a term of eight years, with the possibility to stand for re-election for a second, four-year term.