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≡ 144th IOC SESSION ≡
The opening meetings of the 144th Session of the International Olympic Committee looked mostly backwards at the achievements during the 12-year term of President Thomas Bach (GER), but took time to thanks the brilliant organization of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
A five-member delegation from the Paris organizing committee, led by President Tony Estanguet, gave a final report, summarizing the journey by referring to the adoption of the Olympic Agenda 2020 in 2014:
“Together, we were able to build a vision of the Games which were more sustainable, more responsible, exemplary and useful. In this way, we have shown that it is possible to organize Games that are both spectacular and sustainable.”
Chief Executive Etienne Thobois paid tribute to the close cooperation with the public authorities in the Paris region and in France:
“Allow me to pay a special tribute to the contribution of the public French stakeholders, as we owe them a lot for the success of these Games. Their contribution was nothing short of outstanding, whether it is about security, transport, road management, medical services, customs, cleaning and waste, cleaning of the Seine, delivering all kinds of permits, radio frequencies management, city operations, you name it.
“All the public authorities and agencies delivered in style, in full coordination with the organizing committee. Ad this is what we will remember. We were really able to work together, as a team and not to work alongside one another.”
Wise words for future organizers indeed. Thobois added, “To our summer Games friends from L.A. and Brisbane, we are happy to pass on the data. … Enjoy the ride. It is quite the rollercoaster, but it is really worth it.”
Estanguet closed:
“We French have this reputation of being a country of complainers. People are never happy. But this summer, we no longer recognize the French. They fell in love with the Games … The Games transformed our country and you made us get all that. Thank you.”
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Bach followed by with remarks on his Olympic Agenda project, undertaken immediately upon his election in 2013, with confidence in the Olympic Movement at a low ebb:
“Through a series of discussions, exchanges and debates, the different pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that constitutes Olympic Agenda began to emerge. During a retreat of the IOC Executive Board in Montreux in December 2013, we laid the groundwork.
“Following the extensive discussions during the IOC Session just a couple of weeks later, we established 14 working groups, chaired by and with the participation of all of you, the IOC Members and the stakeholder representatives. They had the task to develop concrete proposals for 25 themes that would make up the pillars of the Olympic Agenda. The proposals of the working groups were then presented to the Executive Board and discussed with the constituents of the Olympic Movement at the second Olympic Summit in July 2014.
“We shared the proposals with all the IOC Commissions. In parallel, we received 1,200 ideas and 44,000 emails from stakeholders, and from civil society. This was the broadest consultation process in Olympic history. It resulted finally in 40 recommendations for Olympic Agenda 2020 – all coming from the 14 working groups and enriched by the contributions from the Olympic Movement stakeholders. Reflecting the quintessential role of the athletes in Olympic Agenda, the recommendations were officially presented by a group of Olympians representing all five continents, many of whom had contributed to this consultation. Finally, each of the 40 recommendations was individually and unanimously agreed at the IOC Session in Monaco.”
Bach noted the achievements of the IOC, helped enormously by going through the development exercise of the Olympic Agenda process:
“In the midst of a global pandemic, we did what nobody had done before: organise postponed Olympic Games under pandemic conditions. We were in uncharted territory. There was no blueprint. We had to take daily decisions on very uncertain grounds. We had doubts every day. We deliberated and we discussed. There were sleepless nights. Like everyone else in the world, we did not know, I did not know, what the future would hold.
“I could not even share my doubts and worries because this would have turned into a self- fulfilling prophecy. This was not only the case for Tokyo. Ahead of every edition of the Olympic Games during my presidency, there were serious or even existential crises. They had to be addressed in countless confidential, highest-level political consultations. It was in such situations that I felt how lonely you can be. Today I can admit how much this weighed on me. But it always helped me to know, that we all together agreed that we had to make the Olympic Games happen – we had to make them happen for the athletes.”
A long series of presentations followed on a “final report” on the Olympic Agenda, including the most recent, the Olympic Artificial Intelligence initiative, all of which saluted Bach for his 12 years as President and as one of the transformational figures in the history of the Olympic Movement. This included an impressive 30-minute video which surveyed some of the impacts of initiatives that Bach brought forward, modernizing the Movement.
Immediately following, IOC Vice President Nicole Hoevertsz (ARU) – reading prepared remarks – asked the IOC membership to elect Bach as Honorary President for Life as “a fitting tribute.”
The motion for this was made at the IOC Executive Board meeting of 17 March, and was accepted by acclamation, with a standing ovation for Bach and cheers from the usually-staid IOC membership.
Bach was clearly moved by the motion and seemed stunned by the enthusiasm for its acceptance. His honorary role will begin on 24 June 2025, when his term as President has concluded. Bach had previously submitted his IOC resignation as of that date – at 71, he could serve to age 80 – so now he will be an Honorary Member and Honorary President.
A series of thanks from 20 members over 45 minutes followed, from Pau Gasol (ESP) on behalf of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Mustapha Berraf (ALG) on behalf of the African National Olympic Committees, Spyros Capralos (GRE) on behalf of the European Olympic Committees, Neven Ilic (CHI) for Panam Sports, Ingmar De Vos (BEL) on behalf of the summer Olympic International Federations, Ivo Ferriani (ITA) on behalf of the winter IFs, canoe Slalom star Jess Fox (AUS), Camilo Lopez (PAR), Karl Stoss (AUT), Samira Asgari (AFG), who said through tears that when the world forgot her country, the IOC – and Bach – was there in support, Yael Arad (ISR), Robin Mitchell (FIJ) on behalf of the Oceanian National Olympic Committees, Michael Mronz (GER), Allyson Felix of the U.S., who thanked Bach for encouraging her in 2021 to get involved in the IOC Athletes’ Commission, Anant Singh (RSA), Luis Mejia (DOM), Mehrez Boussayene (TUN), Luis Moreno (COL), Felicite Rwemarika (RWA) and finally Anita DeFrantz of the U.S.
Bach replied:
“I am really overwhelmed and indeed, extremely grateful to all the words you have expressed for granting me this great honor.”
He observed, in another emotional moment:
“I am grateful that after my career as athlete, I could continue to live my passion for sport. And I am grateful that you allowed me to give back to sport what I have received from the Olympic Movement.
“And my gold medal [in 1976] has changed my life, and with this office as IOC President, I had the opportunity to help others to change their life. And this is why you see a very happy man, even if he doesn’t look like it at the moment … because I’m grateful for having had this opportunity to give back.”
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IOC member in Singapore Ser Miang Ng gave a report on the development of the IOC’s e-sports program, including the Olympic Esports Games to debut in 2027. He noted that when in 2021, there were five International Federations that were partners, but 13 by 2023. Now, 22 federations have proposed to be part of the Olympic Esports Games, to feature virtual sports (working with the IFs), sports simulations (working with the IFs) and traditional e-sports games.
Moreover, he explained that the IOC will launch its own e-sports products in the future.
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Looking ahead to the IOC Presidential election on Thursday, it was announced that three members were not in Greece: Gerardo Werthein (ARG), Hong Zhang (CHN) and Japan’s Yasuhiro Yamashita. So, there are 106 members present.
It has been reported that the candidates will be able to vote in the election, although colleagues from their own countries will not be able to vote as long as they are still in the race. This eliminates eight members from France (3), Great Britain (2), Japan (1), and Spain (2), and President Thomas Bach (GER) will not vote in the first round.
This brings the voting total in the first round to 97, meaning 49 are needed to win. Those tracking the candidature of Zimbabwe’s two-time Olympic gold medalist Kirsty Coventry will note that there will be 52 men and 45 women voting in the first round.
Correspondent Karen Rosen reports from Costa Navarino that the conventional wisdom continues to see Coventry, Britain’s Sebastian Coe and Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch as the most likely contenders to become the 10th IOC President.
There will also be elections for Vice President, with Belgian member Pierre-Olivier Beckers the only announced candidate and two spots on the Executive Board, with Capralos, Ilic, Kristin Kloster (NOR), Octavian Morariu (ROU) and Emma Terho (FIN) as candidates.
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