Thomas Bach elected new IOC President

Buenos Aires – Argentina, Sept 10, 2013: Thomas Bach of Germany was elected today as the ninth President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) following two rounds of votes at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Bach was chosen over fellow presidential candidates Sergey Bubka (Ukraine), Richard Carrion (Puerto Rico), Ser Miang Ng (Singapore), Denis Oswald (Switzerland) and Ching-kuo Wu (Chinese Taipei).*

“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.”

Read Bach’s biography.

Education

Law and Politics, higher degree in Law, University of Würzburg; Doctor iuris utriusque degree

Career

Chairman of the board of the Michael Weinig AG Company (Germany); Chairman or member of various companies’ boards; President of the Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry e.V.

Sports practised

Fencing, tennis, football

Sports career

Olympic champion, fencing (foil) team at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal in 1976; 1976 and 1977 world champion fencing foil team; winner of the 1978 European Cup of Champions; numerous national championship titles

Sports administration

Elected spokesman of the German athletes; athletes’ spokesman at the XI Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden (1981); Supervisory Board member of the FIFA 2006 World Cup Organising Committee; Chairman of the Board of trustees of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Germany 2011 Organising Committee; Founding President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB)

Publications

Various publications on law, economics, and sports

IOC History

Member (1996-2000) of the IOC Executive Board then Vice-President (2000-2004) and re-elected as Vice-President (2006-); Chairman of the following Commissions: Evaluation for the XIX Olympic Winter Games (1994-1995), Evaluation for the Games of XXVIII Olympiad (1994-1997), Juridical (2002-), Sport and Law (2002-); member of the following Commissions: Athletes’ (1981-1988), Press (1985-1988), Marketing (1992-), Juridical (1993-2001), Olympic Collectors (1994-1997), Olympic Movement (1996-1999), Sport and Law (as Athletes’ representative, 1995-2001), TV Rights and New Media (2002-), IOC 2000 Reform Follow-up (2002); Remuneration Working Group (2004); coordinator of the Working Group “Role of the IOC” of the “IOC 2000” Commission (1999)

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.

Voting Results

Round 1:

Thomas Bach: 43

Sergey Bubka: 8

Richard Carrion: 23

Ser Miang Ng: 6

Denis Oswald: 7

Ching-kuo Wu: 6

Round 1 tie-break:

Ser Miang Ng: 56

Ching-kuo Wu: 36

Round 2:

Thomas Bach: 49

Sergey Bubka: 4

Richard Carrion: 29

Ser Miang Ng: 6

Denis Oswald: 5

*In alphabetical order. —- IOC