Olympics committee boss Bach to step down, Coe considers bid

The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, has announced he will not be seeking to remain in charge for a third term.

"New times call for new leaders," the 70-year-old German lawyer told the 142nd general meeting of the IOC in Paris on Saturday night, ahead of the closure of the Olympic Games on Sunday.

"I know with this decision I am disappointing many of you," he told IOC members. "But it is in the best interests of our beloved Olympic movement."

Bach, an Olympic gold medalist in team fencing in 1976, has been IOC president since 2013 — the first ever Olympic champion to have been elected to the position.

An extension of his tenure into a third term and beyond 12 years would have entailed a change to the Olympic charter, something which Bach had considered doing as recently as the 141st IOC Session in Mumbai in October 2023.

But he has now decided against that, saying that, "at my age, I'm no longer the best captain," and that he had listened to "the opinion of my family."

Bach: Pushed sustainability but courted dictators

In his time in office, Bach has been credited with highlighting the importance of sustainability in bids for Summer and Winter Games with his "Olympic Agenda 2020." He enjoys widespread support from global federations who benefit from — and are dependent on — IOC funding. Under Bach, the IOC has prided itself on investing 90% of its revenues back into sport.

But the German has also faced criticism, especially in the West, for courting authoritarian rulers and dictators, among them Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Winter Games in Sochi in 2014, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un in 2018 and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

He has also been accused of turning a blind eye to state-sponsored Russian doping and has been criticized for his perceived reluctance to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from Paris 2024 in the wake of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

"By announcing his retirement, Bach is taking a different approach to those ruling elites he is accused of being close to," commented Germany's Leipziger Volkszeitung newspaper, reacting to the news.

"Because that is also part of his legacy: his familiar dealings with Putin, an inadequate investigation of Russian doping and his embarrassing cozying-up to Kim are big stains on his jacket."

IOC: Who could succeed Thomas Bach?

Having announced he will be stepping down, Bach's potential successors will begin jostling for position ahead of elections at the IOC's 143rd Session in Athens, Greece, in March 2025.

Some observers have tipped Zimbabwean former swimmer Kirsty Coventry (40) or Aruban former synchronized swimmer Nicole Hoevertsz (60) to become the IOC's first ever female president.

Another contender is likely to be World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe, who potentially threw his hat into the ring on Sunday.

"I've always made it clear that, if the opportunity arose, I would give it serious thought," Coe said at a press conference wrapping up the Olympics athletics competition. "The opportunity has arisen, and clearly I need to think about it."

Coe: 'Involved in the Olympic movement for most of my life'

Lord Coe, a two-time British Olympic 1,500 meters champion and president of the 2012 London Olympics Organizing Committee, said his experience speaks for itself, but insisted that there are plenty of other qualified candidates.

"I have been involved in the Olympic movement for the larger part of my life," he said.

"I've chaired an Olympic Games from bids through delivery and two years of legacy after that. I've been privileged to compete in two Olympics Games, and I've chaired a National Olympic Committee, and I now have the best job in the world, I'm president of the No. 1 Olympic sport.

"These are experiences that if you put together, I think would be beneficial to the role. But there are other potential candidates who have good qualifications for that role."

At 67, Coe's age could be a disadvantage for an IOC which technically doesn't allow new members aged 70 and over and has spoken about needing an injection of younger functionaries.

Bach himself referred to the challenges posed by the "digital tsunami" approaching the Olympic shores.

"We're a diverse group of people, global people," said Coe.

"There is a talented membership. That membership needs to be embraced. I think the membership needs to have a good range of quality qualified people to look at."

mf/rmt (Reuters, AFP)