The path looks clear for Thomas Bach to be re-elected as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The IOC confirmed on Tuesday that Bach has no opponents for the election, which is scheduled for March in Athens.
“I am honoured and humbled by the fact that there are no other candidates.” Bach told The Olympic Channel. “I will continue to serve the Olympic Movement to the best of my abilities and will try to be a President for all the IOC Members and the entire Olympic Movement.”
More than 100 IOC members were told Bach is the only candidate for the presidential vote, according to multiple sources. He has four years remaining as far as presidential eligibility after starting an eight-year term in 2013. The four-year term will begin after the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
“As decided by the IOC Executive Board, the elected President will take office after the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, which will take place from 23 July to 8 August 2021”, the IOC said in statement.
“If re-elected, his term will end in 2025.”
An Olympic champion at Montreal 1976 (fencing), Thomas Bach was a founding member of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission and became an IOC member in 1991. He is from Germany and is a lawyer.
Bach defeated Puerto Rico’s Richard Carrión, Singapore’s Ng Ser Miang, Switzerland’s Denis Oswald, Olympic pole vault champion Sergey Bubka, and Chinese Taipei’s Ching-kuo Wu in the election.
He won 49 votes of a total 93 in the final round to succeed Belgium’s Jacques Rogge as IOC President.