Olympia (Greece), March 20 (IANS) Thomas Bach was elected Honorary President for Life of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a position he will take up when his term of office as IOC President ends after June 23.
“The IOC Members accepted the proposal unanimously as they rose in a standing ovation after the proposal was made to the 144th IOC Session by IOC First Vice-President Nicole Hoevertsz on behalf of the IOC Executive Board (EB) in Olympia (Costa Navarino), Greece. Just before that, the IOC Session had heard about the tremendous success of the Olympic Agenda reforms, which defined the presidency of Thomas Bach,” the IOC said in a statement.
Presenting the proposal, Hoevertsz said, “Under President Bach’s visionary leadership, Olympic Agenda was successfully implemented over the years which certainly has not been a small feat. By doing so, we could say that, in essence, President Thomas Bach played a crucial role in modernising the Olympic Movement and ensuring its relevance in the 21st century. Mr President and Executive Board colleagues, please allow me to direct myself to the IOC Members who are present at this 144th Session.
“I would like to first invite you to stand still for a moment and realise that while we are here, appropriately in Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games, we are more than simply finalising this IOC Session. It marks the end of an era, as we soon bid farewell to President Thomas Bach. I believe that it is the appropriate moment to present to you a proposal to appoint President Thomas Bach as Honorary President for Life of the International Olympic Committee. And please allow me to explain the reasons that have led to this proposal.
“Thomas Bach has truly served our organisation, and he has done so as a Member for no less than 34 years. During this period of membership, he has served as a member of the Executive Board and as Vice-President. He was a member of several important commissions and is credited as being a member of the first IOC Athletes’ Commission when it was created at the session in Baden-Baden in 1981,” Hoevertsz continued.
The proposal received enormous support from several IOC Members including Spain, Italy, Belgium, Australia, the USA, Austria, South Africa, Germany and Israel among others.
Accepting the nomination, a visibly moved Bach said: “Dear friends and colleagues, when I was elected as President 12 years ago, my first words were ‘ouf’, and it’s the same situation now. I’m really overwhelmed and indeed extremely grateful for all the words that you have expressed and for granting me this great honour of electing me as your honorary president.
“But I do so with great humility and for two reasons. First of all, what I always said before, this is not what we have seen here, this is not the work of one man. This is the work and the achievements of all of us. Everyone. Every single one of you has contributed in their particular way to this success. And every one of you has contributed to this unity we finally had and without which we would not have achieved anything,” he added.
Bach, the ninth IOC president, served for 12 years following his election in 2013 at the 125th Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He served a first eight-year term and was re-elected unopposed for a second four-year term in March 2021.
–IANS
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