Lausanne (AFP)
The German Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) since 2013, announced Friday at the opening of the 136th session of the IOC that he wishes to run in 2021 for a second term reduced to four years.
"In recent weeks many of you have asked me questions about the election of the president next year. I am grateful and deeply touched by the words of encouragement and confidence (...) If you , IOC members, you want it, I am ready for a second term as President of the IOC in order to continue to serve you and the Olympic movement that we love so much four more years, "said Thomas Bach at the end of speaking at the opening of the videoconference session.
Thomas Bach (66), IOC member since 1991, succeeded Belgian Jacques Rogge in 2013 for an eight-year term. He will therefore appear at the IOC session scheduled for 2021 for a second and final four-year term (the presidents are elected for an eight-year term, renewable once for four years).
Ninth IOC President Thomas Bach was Olympic foil team champion at the Montreal (Canada) Games in 1976. He began his involvement in sports policy by becoming a spokesperson for athletes from West Germany in order to compete the 1980 Moscow Games, finally boycotted by his country to protest against the military intervention of the USSR in Afghanistan in December 1979.
As president, he faces the global coronavirus pandemic, which led the IOC to postpone the Tokyo Games by one year to 2021, a first in peacetime.
The IOC is meeting on Friday for its 136th session, for the first time "virtual", largely devoted to the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the election of new members including the President of the International Athletics Federation, the Briton Sebastian Coe.
© 2020 AFP