Thomas Bach
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former
foil Foil may refer to: Materials * Foil (metal), a quite thin sheet of metal, usually manufactured with a rolling mill machine * Metal leaf, a very thin sheet of decorative metal * Aluminium foil, a type of wrapping for food * Tin foil, metal foil ma ...
fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has served as the ninth
president of the International Olympic Committee The president of the International Olympic Committee is head of the executive board that assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the management of its affairs. The IOC E ...
since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to that position. Bach is also a former German individual foil champion as well as a team world champion, and former member of the
German Olympic Sports Confederation The German Olympic Sports Confederation (, DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates back to 1895, the year it was founded a ...
's executive board.


Early life and education

Thomas Bach was born in
Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...
. He grew up in Tauberbischofsheim, where he lived with his parents until 1977. Bach earned a
doctor of law A Doctor of Laws (LL.D.) is a doctoral degree in legal studies. The abbreviation LL.D. stands for ''Legum Doctor'', with the double “L” in the abbreviation referring to the early practice in the University of Cambridge to teach both canon law ...
( Dr. iur. utr.) degree in 1983 at the
University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. Founded in 1402, it is one of the ol ...
. In addition to his native German, he speaks fluent French, English and Spanish.


Fencing career

Bach is a former foil fencer, who competed for
West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...
. In 1971, at 17 years of age, he won the German national junior foil championship, and a
bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receives ...
at the Junior World Fencing Championships in Chicago, Illinois.for all and all for one: Thomas Bach reflects on a golden moment at Montreal 1976"
/ref> At the
World Fencing Championships The World Fencing Championships is an annual competition in fencing organized by the International Fencing Federation. Contestants may participate in Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre events. History The FIE first organiz ...
he also won a team
silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...
in 1973 in
Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...
, Sweden, a team gold medal in 1977 in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
, Argentina, and a team bronze medal in 1979 in
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
, Australia."Thomas Bach,"
Olympics.com.
Bach completed his last competitive international match on 26 October 1980 in
Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...
. He won a foil team
gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have b ...
at the
1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...
in Montreal, Canada. On 11 November 2017, Bach was formally granted the use of the
post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...
" OLY". Nationally, Bach won the 1977 and 1978 German Individual Foil Championships. He also won the 1978 European Cup of Champions of foil teams.


DOSB Presidency

Bach served as the President of the
German Olympic Sports Confederation The German Olympic Sports Confederation (, DOSB) was founded on 20 May 2006 by a merger of the ''Deutscher Sportbund'' (DSB), and the ''Nationales Olympisches Komitee für Deutschland'' (NOK) which dates back to 1895, the year it was founded a ...
(DOSB), prior to becoming
President of the International Olympic Committee The president of the International Olympic Committee is head of the executive board that assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the management of its affairs. The IOC E ...
(IOC). In order to run for IOC Presidency, he resigned as the head of the DOSB on 16 September 2013, having served in that position since 2006. He was replaced by Alfons Hörmann, and remained a member of the DOSB Executive Board. Additionally, he resigned as the head of Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Bach would, however, continue serving as the head of Michael Weinig AG Company, a company in the industrial woodworking machinery industry that has its headquarters in Bach's hometown of Tauberbischofsheim. In 2012, Bach headed
Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...
's bid for the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
. In the host city election, Munich secured 25 votes as South Korea's Pyeongchang was elected as host city with 63 votes.


IOC Presidency

On 9 May 2013, Bach confirmed that he would run for
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
of the
International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...
.


2013 IOC presidential election

Bach was elected to an eight-year term as IOC President at the
125th IOC Session The 125th IOC Session took place at the Buenos Aires Hilton in Buenos Aires, Argentina, from 7 to 10 September 2013. On 7 September, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) elected Tokyo as the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympic ...
in
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
on 10 September 2013. He secured 49 votes in the final round of voting, giving him the majority needed to be elected. He succeeded Jacques Rogge, who had served as IOC President from 2001 to 2013. Bach would be eligible to run for a second four-year term at the 137th IOC Session in 2021 until 2025. Bach's successful election came against five other candidates: Sergey Bubka, Richard Carrión, Ng Ser Miang, Denis Oswald and Wu Ching-Kuo. The result of the election was as follows: Bach officially moved into the IOC presidential office at the IOC headquarters in
Lausanne Lausanne ( , ; ; ) is the capital and largest List of towns in Switzerland, city of the Swiss French-speaking Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. It is a hilly city situated on the shores of Lake Geneva, about halfway bet ...
, Switzerland, on 17 September 2013, a week after being elected president. At a meeting of the 137th session of the International Olympic Committee on 10 March 2021, Bach was re-elected to an additional four-year term as president. Bach, 67, was re-elected by a 93–1 vote from 94 valid votes during the session which was held virtually due to the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. This is Bach's final term as IOC president, as the organization's rules limit the president's term to eight years with one renewal of four years. On 10 August 2024, Bach announced that he intends to step down as IOC president when his term ends in 2025 despite being asked to stay on.


Olympic Agenda 2020

Following his election as IOC President, Bach indicated his desire to change the Olympic bidding process and make sustainable development a priority. He stated that the current bidding process "asks too much, too early". These forty proposed reforms became known as Olympic Agenda 2020; they were all unanimously approved at the
127th IOC Session The 127th IOC Session took place in December 2014 in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Olympic Agenda 2020 All provisions in the Olympic Agenda 2020 reform package were approved by the full IOC membership. 130th IOC Session host election On December 9, 2 ...
in
Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...
in 2014.


Olympic host city elections

The first bidding process over which Thomas Bach presided was for the
2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), were an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beijing, China, and surrounding areas wit ...
. Bids were due in November 2013, and the host city,
Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
, was elected to host the 2022 Winter Olympics at the
128th IOC Session The 128th IOC Session took place from July 31 – August 3, 2015, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre. The host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics were elected during the 128th IOC Sess ...
in
Kuala Lumpur Kuala Lumpur (KL), officially the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur, is the capital city and a Federal Territories of Malaysia, federal territory of Malaysia. It is the largest city in the country, covering an area of with a census population ...
, Malaysia, in July 2015. Lausanne was elected to host the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics during that same session. During the bidding process for the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
in 2017, President Bach proposed a joint awarding of the 2024 and
2028 Summer Olympics The 2028 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXIV Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 2028 or LA 28, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place July 14–30, 2028, in the United States. Los Angeles ...
after several bidders withdrew. The IOC later approved a plan to award the 2024 Olympics to
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
, with
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
securing the right to host the 2028 Olympics. President Bach presided over the electoral procedures at the 131st IOC Session in
Lima Lima ( ; ), founded in 1535 as the Ciudad de los Reyes (, Spanish for "City of Biblical Magi, Kings"), is the capital and largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón River, Chillón, Rímac River, Rímac and Lurín Rive ...
, Peru. Both cities were unanimously elected.
Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...
and
Cortina d'Ampezzo Cortina d'Ampezzo (; , ; historical ) sometimes abbreviated to simply Cortina, is a town and ''comune'' in the heart of the southern (Dolomites, Dolomitic) Alps in the province of Belluno, in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. Situated on the ...
were elected to host the
2026 Winter Olympics The 2026 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Milano Cortina 2026, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled to take place from 6 to 22 February 2026 at sites across Lombardy and North ...
at the 134th IOC Session in Lausanne, Switzerland, in 2019.


Reception and challenges


Consultancy contract for Siemens

Thomas Bach came under criticism when it became known in April 2008 that he had a consulting contract with
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
from the turn of the millennium, which was remunerated with 400,000 Euros in 2008 and provided for additional expenses of 5,000 Euros per day. Bach is said to have organized invitations from the Arab world for the Siemens Group. Siemens supervisory board members criticized that with such high fees, additional daily payment was "absolutely unusual." They also criticized a possible conflict of interest, because Siemens profited from contracts related to sports, and overlaps between his professional activities and his work as a sports official.


President of the Ghorfa

Bach has been criticized for his work as president of Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ghorfa). Ghorfa legalizes trade documents of companies that want to export to Arab countries. It does so by certifying that the products do not contain parts from Israel. The practice was introduced in the 1970s as part of the Arab League boycott of Israel.


Controversies surrounding Russia

One of the biggest challenges Bach has been faced with as IOC President is having to deal with Russia's state-sponsored doping scandal. This program did begin prior to his presidency, but nonetheless it has become a pressing issue during his tenure. It had been discovered that Russia tampered with the anti-doping lab at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and that the government had overseen mass doping among the Russian Olympic athletes for many years. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Bach's call to "respect the rules and stay clean" was widely interpreted as a reference to the Russian scandal. Bach was harshly criticized for what many see as turning a blind eye to Russia's state-sponsored Olympic doping effort.
Jim Walden Jim Walden (born April 10, 1938) is an American former gridiron football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Washington State University from 1978 to 1986 and Iowa State University from 1987 to 1994, compiling a career col ...
, attorney for whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, called Bach's move to reinstate the Russian Olympic Committee following the 2018 Winter Olympics, despite the failed drug tests during the Games, "weakness in the face of evil". There was wide speculation that Vladimir Putin's support was a key factor in Thomas Bach's election as IOC president in September 2013. It was reported that Putin had congratulated Bach by phone only a few minutes after his election. Bach has been criticized by German media for his perceived friendliness towards Russia. He was even seen as instrumental in lifting the
World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...
's ban on Russian athletes in 2018. Bach has also expressed support for participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics, despite the ongoing
Russo-Ukrainian War The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...
. Responding to opposition from several nation states, he said that it should not be up to national governments to decide who gets to participate in international sporting tournaments. On 22 March 2023, Bach further reiterated his support for reinstating Russian and Belarusian athletes, expressing opposition to political influence on sports and "any suggestion that Russians should be treated as if they have collective guilt". In October 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee, which had previously sent independent Russian athletes to the Olympic Games, due to violations of the
Olympic Charter The Olympic Charter is a set of rules and guidelines for the organisation of the Olympic Games, and for governing the Olympic movement. Its last revision was on the 17th of July 2020 during the List of IOC meetings, 136th IOC Session, held by v ...
– specifically, for incorporating Ukrainian sporting bodies from annexed Ukrainian territory into the Russian body, and so violating the integrity of the Ukraine Olympic Committee. Russia challenged this in the
Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...
; in February 2024 the appeal was declined. This worsened tensions between the IOC and ROC, with Thomas Bach saying in March 2024 that Russia only has itself to blame.


Postponement of 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics

On 5 March 2020, ''
Bloomberg News Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg T ...
'' reported that Bach had stated "Neither the word 'cancellation' nor the word 'postponement' were even mentioned" regarding the upcoming
2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...
in
Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...
, Japan amidst
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
at the IOC's executive board meeting the previous day. On 22 March, the IOC announced that within four weeks a decision would be made on whether Tokyo 2020 is going to be staged as planned or whether a postponement is necessary. Later that month, the IOC reversed the course and rescheduled the 2020 Games, which held from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Meanwhile, Bach was in Tokyo in July 2021 to promote a safe launch of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics, he referred to
Japanese people are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them list of contempora ...
as "Chinese", triggering a backlash on social media. Bach's visit to
Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park is a memorial park in the center of Hiroshima, Japan. It is dedicated to the legacy of Hiroshima as the first city in the world to suffer a Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, nuclear attack at the end of World War II, and to the memories ...
was opposed by survivor groups, some of which accused Bach of using the historic place politically to "justify holding of the Olympics by force under the pandemic". Furthermore, Hiroshima prefectural and municipal governments had to cover some 3.79 million yen (roughly $34,000) in security costs for Bach after the IOC refused to pay. As ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' had called Bach "Von Ripper-off", the translated term "" - "Baron Rip-off" - became his nickname, and made the top 10 in 2021's Buzzwords of the Year in Japan.


Peng Shuai and 2022 Winter Olympics

Later in 2021, Chinese tennis star
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; ; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked as the List of WTA number 1 ranked doubles tennis players, world No. 1 doubles player by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA ...
was suspected to have been forcibly disappeared after she accused Zhang Gaoli, a top official of the
Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...
(CCP), of sexual assault. Following international outcry, the CCP offered an apparent "proof-of-life" video. Bach served as an interviewer in the video, in which Peng stated that she was safe and well. Zhang and Bach had met and worked together on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. After the interview, Global Athlete, an athlete advocacy group, said the IOC had demonstrated "an abhorrent indifference to sexual violence and the well-being of female athletes". Peng attended several events at the 2022 Winter Olympics and had a meeting with Bach and other IOC officials, where she announced her intention to travel to Europe after the COVID-19 pandemic is over.


Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics

The participation of Israel at the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
prompted calls from left-wing French lawmakers, Palestinian, and other global sports organizations for sanctions against Israel and to prevent its participation due to the impact of the
Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...
on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities, but Bach confirmed this was never an issue for the IOC and cautioned athletes against
boycotts A boycott is an act of nonviolent resistance, nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organisation, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for Morality, moral, society, social, politics, political, or Environmenta ...
and discrimination. In November 2023, Russia accused the IOC of having double standards by not sanctioning Israel due to its military actions in Gaza and occupation of Palestine, as Palestine is also an IOC member.


Olga Kharlan incident and 2024 Summer Olympics

Since 1 July 2020 (and reconfirmed by FIE public notice in September 2020 and in January 2021), by public written notice the FIE had replaced its previous handshake requirement with a "salute" by the opposing fencers, and written in its public notice that handshakes were "suspended until further notice." Nevertheless, in July 2023 when Ukrainian four-time world fencing individual
sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...
champion
Olga Kharlan Olha Hennadiivna Kharlan (; born 4 September 1990), also known as Olga Kharlan, is a Ukrainian Sabre (fencing), sabre Fencing, fencer. She is a four-time individual women’s world sabre champion, six-time Olympic medalist and the most decorated ...
was disqualified at the World Fencing Championships by the
Fédération Internationale d'Escrime The International Fencing Federation (''Fédération Internationale d'Escrime'') commonly known by the acronym FIE, is the international Sport governing body, governing body of Olympic Games, Olympic fencing. Today, its head office is at th ...
for not shaking the hand of her defeated Russian opponent, though Kharlan instead offered a tapping of blades in acknowledgement, Bach stepped in the next day. As President of the IOC, he sent a letter to Kharlan in which he expressed empathy for her, and wrote that in light of the situation she was being guaranteed a spot in the
2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...
.
He wrote further: "as a fellow fencer, it is impossible for me to imagine how you feel at this moment. The war against your country, the suffering of the people in Ukraine, the uncertainty around your participation at the Fencing World Championships ... and then the events which unfolded yesterday - all this is a roller coaster of emotions and feelings. It is admirable how you are managing this incredibly difficult situation, and I would like to express my full support to you. Rest assured that the IOC will continue to stand in full solidarity with the Ukrainian athletes and the Olympic community of Ukraine."


Other issues

Bach was criticized by journalist Marina Hyde in ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' for comparing the IOC positively to
FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
with regard to corruption. Also in ''The Guardian'', Owen Gibson accused Bach of hypocrisy for agreeing to be involved with the 2015 European Games hosted in
Azerbaijan Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a Boundaries between the continents, transcontinental and landlocked country at the boundary of West Asia and Eastern Europe. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by ...
. Twenty-nine journalists signed an open letter to Bach calling for him to condemn Azerbaijan's jailing of dissenters and attacks on freedom of expression. In 2017, Bach faced a backlash for his decision to rename
synchronized swimming Synchronized swimming (in British English, synchronised swimming), also known as artistic swimming, is a sport where swimmers perform a synchronized choreographed routine, accompanied by music. The sport is governed internationally by World A ...
as artistic swimming. The name change spurred a petition signed by over 11,000 people from 88 countries, with one signer declaring "'Artistic Swimming' sounds like something society ladies did with their bosom friends at garden parties or after tea in the early 20th century."


Honors


State honors

* : ** Grand Cross of the Order of the Phoenix * : ** 1st Class of the
Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...
* : ** Order of Honour * : ** Blue Dragon (Cheongnyong) of the Order of Sports Merit * : ** Grand Cordon of the National Order of Merit (2016) * : ** 5th Class of the
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise () is a Ukrainian award. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, strengthening the international prestige of Ukraine, develop ...
** 4th Class of the
Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise () is a Ukrainian award. It is awarded for distinguished services to the state and people of the Ukrainian nation in the field of state building, strengthening the international prestige of Ukraine, develop ...
* : ** Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2025)


Honorary doctorates

* : Doctorate ''honoris causa'' from the Universidad Católica de Murcia. * : Honorary Doctorate from the
University of Tsukuba is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. The university has 28 college clusters and schools with around 16,500 students (as of 2014). The main Tsukuba ca ...
.


Awards

* Seoul Peace Prize from the Republic of Korea


Notes and references


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bach, Thomas 1953 births Commanders Crosses of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Doping in Russia Fencers at the 1976 Summer Olympics German male fencers German International Olympic Committee members Grand Cordons of the Order of the Rising Sun Living people Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for West Germany Olympic gold medalists for West Germany Olympic medalists in fencing People from Tauberbischofsheim Presidents of the International Olympic Committee Recipients of the Order of Honour (Russia) Recipients of the Order of Merit of Baden-Württemberg Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 4th class Recipients of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, 5th class Sportspeople from Stuttgart (region) University of Würzburg alumni Free Democratic Party (Germany) politicians 20th-century German sportsmen