Bach To Resign IOC Membership

Bach To Resign IOC Membership

by Philip Barker

Three weeks before the identity of his successor as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President is revealed, it has been confirmed that Thomas Bach will also stand down as an IOC member when his term formally ends in June.

Bach, who is set to turn 72 in December, was entitled to remain an IOC member until he reached the age of 75, the age limit in force when he was co-opted as a member in 1991, at the same session as his predecessor Jacques Rogge.

Bach won team gold in foil at the 1976 Montreal Olympics and was the first Olympic Champion to lead the IOC.

In 1981, He was one of the first athletes to address an IOC Congress alongside fellow Olympic Champion Sebastian Coe, one of seven candidates to succeed him next month.

Bach was elected IOC President in 2013 in Buenos Aires after achieving an overall majority in the second round of voting. He was re-elected without opposition for a second four-year term in 2021 and there were some who lobbied for him to continue.

He has faced many obstacles during his time in office. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics. The Beijing 2022 Winter Games were also conducted under strict regulations to prevent the spread of the virus.

As those Games came to an end, Bach and the IOC were also confronted by the need to respond to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Bach’s farewell is set to take place in Lausanne where each transfer of office has taken place in the 100 years since Baron Pierre De Coubertin relinquished the Presidency.

In 1925, Coubertin and Swiss IOC member Godefroy de Blonay welcomed Comte Henri Baillet Latour to Lausanne. The celebrations also included a welcome by the Swiss government in Berne.

Each President since Coubertin has also been named Honorary President for Life.

Count Henri Baillet Latour, who died in office in 1942, was recognised posthumously after a proposal from the Italian Conte Thaon de Revel.

In 1952, When Sigfrid Edstrom handed the symbolic key to American multi-millionaire Avery Brundage, the first non-European IOC President, there was also a salute from Santa Barbara in California, where Brundage had a home. They announced that the day of his induction would be known as “Avery Brundage Day.”

When Brundage finally stood down in his 85th year, Lausanne Georges-André Chevallaz told him “You have known how to steer the Olympic ship with a steady hand.  During this difficult journey, you have met hazards, dangers and even pirate ships, but you have been able to find a somewhat quiet port in our city.”

Lord Killanin, who succeeded Brundage, faced similar metaphorical rough seas with a major boycott of Montreal. By the time he handed over office to Juan Antonio Samaranch senior, Killanin had recovered from a heart attack.

He had also fought against a second major boycott of the Moscow 1980 Games, spearheaded by the late American President Jimmy Carter in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Samaranch was the first IOC President since Coubertin to live in Lausanne. He was also an octogenarian by the time he said goodbye to the Presidency in 2001. Lausanne city council renamed the local stadium in his honour and the canton of Vaud offered him a vineyard.

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