IOC President Thomas Bach hands the Olympic Flag from Paris to Los Angeles during the Closing Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at Stade de France. Photo: Photosport
Outgoing International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has been named honorary president for life, with the German due to step down in June after 12 years in charge.
The proposal was passed by acclamation with a teary-eyed Bach, whose successor will be elected tomorrow, earning a standing ovation from the IOC members at their session in southern Greece.
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Bach, a German lawyer and former Olympic fencing champion, took over in 2013 and immediately introduced wide-ranging reforms both in relation to the Olympic Games and the IOC itself, including reducing the size and cost of the Games to make them more attractive to future host cities.
His tenure as president was at times rocky, with the Olympics hit by the 2014 Sochi Games' Russian state-backed doping scandal, which led to Russian athletes participating as neutrals in several editions of the Games.
He also had to deal with political tensions on the Korean Peninsula prior to the 2018 winter Games in South Korea's Pyeongchang, and was also forced to postpone the Tokyo 2020 Olympics by a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thomas Bach has faced a raft of challenges during his tenure. Photo: AFP
The Beijing 2022 winter Games were also held without fans due to the pandemic.
The Paris 2024 Games had the participation of Russian athletes once more as neutrals following the country's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Bach, 71, will step down from his post on June 23 and will also vacate his IOC membership post.
There are seven candidates to succeed Bach, with IOC vice-president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, Zimbabwe's sports minister Kirsty Coventry and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe of Britain seen as the frontrunners.
World Athletics president Sebastian Coe of Britain is among the frontrunners. Photo: Photosport
International cycling chief David Lappartient, International Gymnastics Federation head Morinari Watanabe, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan and Olympic newcomer and multimillionaire Johan Eliasch, who heads the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, complete the lineup.
Lappartient thinks it's still too close to call who will win.
"I will try to convince my colleagues that my candidature is one of the best. I think there's going to be more than three rounds to get the majority needed for presidency," Lappartient told reporters.
"I don't think one of the candidates is strong enough to secure a majority (in the early rounds of voting)."
From the 100-odd votes that members will cast at the southern Greek seaside resort where the IOC session is held, the winner will need an outright majority.
If that is not the case, then the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated and another round of voting is held.
"I am still in the race," said Lappartient. "I will use, I would say, my sport, (a) bicycle race. I think that it's riding fast, but I'm still in the first part of the bunch. So I've not been dropped from the bunch.
"So I still believe it's possible. But of course, you need... to be humble and to know also that you have solid candidates."
The president is elected on an eight-year term with the possibility to stand for a second four-year term.
Two New Zealanders are eligible to vote. They are Sarah Walker, who won silver at London 2012 in BMX, and former tennis pro Marcus Daniell, who won bronze in the men's doubles at Tokyo 2020, alongside Michael Venus.
Both are members of the IOC's Athletes' Commission.
-Reuters
