Thomas Bach ranks with IOC presidential greats Samaranch and de Coubertin: experts

COSTA NAVARINO, Greece – Thomas Bach’s life has been dominated by the Olympics, as a team fencing gold medallist and then International Olympic Committee (IOC) chief – and he deserves to be ranked as “one of the three greatest presidents”, two former IOC executives told AFP.

His successor will face innumerable challenges and crises, just as the 71-year-old German – who has since been named honorary president – has done in his 12-year reign.

Russia has figured prominently with the invasions of Ukraine in 2014 and 2022, as well as the state-sponsored doping programme at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Aside from that, the Covid-19 pandemic forced the postponement of the 2020 Tokyo Games by a year and, like them, the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 was also held in a “bubble” to shield participants from the coronavirus.

“There have been nine presidents over the 130-year history of the IOC,” former IOC marketing chief Michael Payne said.

“Bach, by any measure, must rank as one of the three greatest IOC presidents along with (Pierre) de Coubertin, and (Juan Antonio) Samaranch.”

Terrence Burns, another former IOC marketing executive, said: “What he achieved in the most difficult of circumstances is epic.

“I think president Bach was the right president at the right time for the IOC. De Coubertin started it, Samaranch saved it, and Bach reinvented it.”

For Martin Sorrell, who founded advertising giant WPP and sat on the IOC’s communications commission, Bach has done a “great job”.

“He reformed the IOC, he provided a clear strategic vision,” he said.

“His legacy is he leaves a much stronger IOC and Olympic organisation and world than when he took over 12 years ago.”

Payne, who in nearly two decades at the IOC was credited with renewing its brand and finances through sponsorship deals, added that it was Bach’s steeliness under pressure that stands out.

“He held his nerve, and overcame each of the challenges,” said the 66-year-old Irishman.

“From the operational dysfunction of Rio in 2016; the geopolitical stand-off between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in the lead up to Pyeongchang (2018) and then Covid.

“Bach played a remarkable game of poker with Japan, to protect the Games and ensure that they were not cancelled, when many Japanese politicians pressed for them to be.”

His micro-management style and keeping decisions in a tight group were not appreciated by some. However, Burns said Bach adapted to the prevailing circumstances.

“I think when faced with unprecedented challenges – Covid as well – he adopted a management style that he felt was most efficient but maybe not the most popular,” he said.

“One cannot argue with the results, though.”

There was also criticism of his handling of Russia over its attack on Ukraine in 2022 and permitting some Russian athletes to compete as neutral participants at the Paris Games in 2024, albeit providing they met strict conditions.

Burns, who since leaving the IOC has been a member of six victorious Olympic hosting bids, said things are not as black and white for an IOC supremo.

“The reaction of an IOC president is different from the reaction of an IF (international federation) president because the IOC president presides over the entire movement, not a single sport,” he said.

“Single sports have a lot of leeway in how their sports are managed at the Games as well as which athletes can attend.” AFP