IOC President Bach Asserts Success of Rio Games and Agenda 2020; Allows Russia Perspective

Jul 9, 2015; Montreal, CAN; President of the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) Marcel Aubut (L) and President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach cut the official ribbon during the Excellence Day at Canada Olympic House. Mandatory Credit: Jean-Yves Ahern-USA TODAY Sports
Photo Courtesy: Jean-Yves Ahern/USA Today Sports Images

Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee, spoke Tuesday at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) General Assembly, and he praised the success of both the recently-completed Rio Olympic Games while blaming the media for misrepresenting many of the issues with the event, according to InsideTheGames.biz.

Bach called Rio an “iconic” Olympics, pointing out that while the organization faced “unprecedented challenges” in Brazil, many of the expected issues for the Games (such as Zika and the contaminated bay water) never became an issue during the Games. Bach blamed the media for spending too much time harping on these potential difficulties, claiming that “there is a difference between public opinion and published opinion.”

The President also defended the IOC’s decision to allow Russian athletes to compete in Rio after the World Anti-Doping Agency called for a blanket ban after the release of the McLaren Report. He explained that two separate IOC-sponsored commissions are looking into Russia’s issues independent of WADA and Richard McLaren.

“These Commissions will also allow the Russian perspective to be heard, which has not been the case so far,” he said. “Based on its findings, it will be necessary that we take all the measures and all necessary sanctions because, even if only part of this is true, it will be an unprecedented attack on the integrity of Olympic competitions.”

Bach spoke highly of Agenda 2020, which he championed in hopes of streamlining the process of bidding for the Olympic Games. Bach insisted that if not for the initiative, none of the cities still in the running to bid for the 2024 Games (Los Angeles, Paris and Budapest) would still be in the running.

InsideTheGames.biz also points out that Hamburg and Rome have both dropped out of the bidding for those Games, citing financial costs, and Olympic hosts such as Sochi and Tokyo have dealt with far higher budgets than originally anticipated. Bach did not cite these issues in his address.

Bach also explained how the recent success of the Olympic Games can be seen as a point of unity in the still-fractured modern political climate.

“Yes, this world is more fractional than ever,” he said. We must acknowledge that the world as we know it is changing in many respects.  Peace is not what this world is about at this stage – peace and financial systems is at risk.  But if we compare where we stand in sport with the rest of society, we can really say that, in this disenfranchised world, sport is an anchor of stability that more and more people are looking to and having confidence in. We must justify this confidence and remain an anchor of stability.”

Read more from InsideTheGames.biz by clicking here.

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