Thomas Bach Re-Elected as President of International Olympic Committee

Thomas Bach - Photo Courtesy: AAP

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach was officially re-elected on Wednesday.

Bach will begin a final four-year term as the world prepares for the delayed 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The election this year was a formality as Bach was running unopposed. He won the election by a 93-1 vote with four voters abstaining.

“Thank you very much from the bottom of my heart for this overwhelming vote of confidence and trust,” Thomas Bach said during a virtual IOC meeting because of the pandemic.

Bach is a lawyer from Germany who has been in charge of the IOC for the past eight years, which has been marred by the Russian doping scandal as well as the COVID-19 pandemic postponing the Olympics, the first time the Olympics have been postponed for a reason other than war.

But he reiterated that the games will go on, while news outlets have reported that it will happen without overseas fans.

“The question is not whether, the question is how these Olympic Games will take place,” Thomas Bach said, calling Tokyo “the best prepared Olympic city ever.”

The Russian doping scandal affected much of Bach’s tenure, including the 2014 Sochi games which were marred by doping.

Bach’s presidency has been through problems before, however.

“Let us not forget the sea of troubles we had to navigate since 2014,” Bach said.

Russian teams and athletes have been barred from competing under their nation’s name or flag in 2021 as the latest punishment from the scandal, which continues to dominate the Olympic news.

But it hasn’t been all negative publicity for the IOC since Bach took over.

Despite tough times for the Olympics, Thomas Bach secured the IOC’s long-term future by extending key broadcasting and sponsor deals through 2032.

He also ushered in future Olympic host cities Paris and Los Angeles, while Brisbane, Australia, is now poised to possibly host the 2032 Games.

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