43 Facts About Thomas Bach

Thomas Bach was born on 29 December 1953 and is a German lawyer, former foil fencer, and Olympic gold medalist.

Thomas Bach has served as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to that position.

Thomas Bach grew up in Tauberbischofsheim, where he lived with his parents until 1977.

Thomas Bach is a former foil fencer, who competed for West Germany.

Thomas Bach completed his last competitive international match on 26 October 1980 in Shanghai.

Thomas Bach won a foil team gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Canada.

On 11 November 2017, Thomas Bach was formally granted the use of the post-nominal letters "OLY".

Nationally, Thomas Bach won the 1977 and 1978 German Individual Foil Championships.

Thomas Bach won the 1978 European Cup of Champions of foil teams.

Thomas Bach served as the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation, prior to becoming President of the International Olympic Committee.

Thomas Bach was replaced by Alfons Hormann, and remained a member of the DOSB Executive Board.

Thomas Bach would continue serving as the head of Michael Weinig AG Company, a company in the industrial woodworking machinery industry that has its headquarters in Thomas Bach's hometown of Tauberbischofsheim.

In 2012, Thomas Bach headed Munich's bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.

On 9 May 2013, Thomas Bach confirmed that he would run for President of the International Olympic Committee.

Thomas Bach was elected to an eight-year term as IOC President at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires on 10 September 2013.

Thomas Bach secured 49 votes in the final round of voting, giving him the majority needed to be elected.

Thomas Bach succeeded Jacques Rogge, who had served as IOC President from 2001 to 2013.

Thomas Bach would be eligible to run for a second four-year term at the 137th IOC Session in 2021 until 2025.

Thomas Bach officially moved into the IOC presidential office at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, 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, Thomas Bach was re-elected to an additional four-year term as president.

On 10 August 2024, Thomas Bach announced that he intends to step down as IOC president when his term ends in 2025 despite being asked to stay on.

Thomas Bach stated that the current bidding process "asks too much, too early".

The first bidding process over which Thomas Bach presided was for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

President Thomas Bach presided over the electoral procedures at the 131st IOC Session in Lima, Peru.

Thomas Bach came under criticism when it became known in April 2008 that he had a consulting contract with Siemens 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.

Thomas Bach is said to have organized invitations from the Arab world for the Siemens Group.

Thomas Bach has been criticized for his work as president of Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

One of the biggest challenges Thomas Bach has been faced with as IOC President is having to deal with Russia's state-sponsored doping scandal.

Thomas Bach was harshly criticized for what many see as turning a blind eye to Russia's state-sponsored Olympic doping effort.

Jim Walden, attorney for whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, called Thomas 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".

Thomas Bach has been criticized by German media for his perceived friendliness towards Russia.

Thomas Bach was even seen as instrumental in lifting the World Anti-Doping Agency's ban on Russian athletes in 2018.

Thomas Bach has expressed support for participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics, despite the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War.

On 22 March 2023, Thomas 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".

On 5 March 2020, Bloomberg News reported that Thomas Bach had stated "Neither the word 'cancellation' nor the word 'postponement' were even mentioned" regarding the upcoming 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan amidst COVID-19 pandemic at the IOC's executive board meeting the previous day.

Meanwhile, Thomas Bach was in Tokyo in July 2021 to promote a safe launch of the postponed 2020 Summer Olympics, he referred to Japanese people as "Chinese", triggering a backlash on social media.

Thomas Bach's visit to Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park was opposed by survivor groups, some of which accused Thomas Bach of using the historic place politically to "justify holding of the Olympics by force under the pandemic".

Thomas Bach served as an interviewer in the video, in which Peng stated that she was safe and well.

Zhang and Thomas Bach had met and worked together on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

The participation of Israel at the 2024 Summer Olympics 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 on Palestinian athletes and sports facilities, but Thomas Bach confirmed this was never an issue for the IOC and cautioned athletes against boycotts and discrimination.

Thomas Bach was criticized by journalist Marina Hyde in The Guardian for comparing the IOC positively to FIFA with regard to corruption.

Twenty-nine journalists signed an open letter to Thomas Bach calling for him to condemn Azerbaijan's jailing of dissenters and attacks on freedom of expression.

In 2017, Thomas Bach faced a backlash for his decision to rename synchronized swimming as artistic swimming.