President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Thomas Bach does not intend to spend the next season in his position. Bach made the announcement in Paris on Saturday.
Bach, 70, has served as IOC president since 2013, and his current term will end next year.
– New times call for new leaders, Bach said.
According to the rules, one can work in the position for 12 years, but the members of the Olympic Committee have hoped that Bach will continue in the position, reported the US news agency AP.
– I know that many of you will be disappointed with my decision. However, it is for the best for our Olympic movement, he said according to AFP.
Bach himself was successful as an Olympic athlete, when he won team gold for Germany in foil fencing in 1976.
No candidates have yet registered to succeed Bach. A new chairman will be elected in 2025.
Ticket sales record
The sweltering Summer Olympics in Paris will go down in history for the great atmosphere and full stands of several competition events.
Before the start of the Olympics, there were, among other things, security concerns and fear of massive public transport problems. The horror pictures have not come true. The athletes have regularly praised the atmosphere, even if their own success had remained muted.
The organizers of the games, which will end on Sunday, have relied on the idea, where many sports have been taken to the most famous landmarks in Paris. Olympic medals have been fought for in La Concorde square, the Grand Palais exhibition hall, in front of the Eiffel Tower and in the park of the Palace of Versailles, among others.
– It was a really great route and certainly worthy of the Olympics. When there were also a lot of supporters, there has been a great feeling here, cyclist Anniina Ahtosalo said after their road race that ended next to the Eiffel Tower.
Even before the start of the Olympics, the organizers of the Paris Games announced that they had sold a record 8.7 million admission tickets. The previous sales record was 8.3 million tickets for the 1996 Games in Atlanta.
However, ticket prices have caused a stir. At least those who were on the move at the last minute have had to shell out several hundred euros for their entrance tickets to the most popular events. Tickets for the most expensive seats have cost at most four-figure sums.
According to the news agency AFP, for example, some restaurateurs have said that their business has suffered because many Parisians went elsewhere during the Olympics and several tourists have headed directly to the competition venues.
A discussion about boxing and the Seine
The Paris Games have not been spared from the uproar.
The swimming part of the triathlon and the open water swim were organized in the Seine river, whose water quality raised concerns in advance.
Boxing in Algeria Imane Khelif and Taiwan Lin Yu-ting got into the middle of a gender controversy. The International Boxing Association (IBA) banned them from last year’s World Championships because it said Khelif and Lin did not meet the conditions for participation in the women’s division.
The International Olympic Committee IOC does not recognize the IBA as the sport’s international umbrella organization.
The discussion also revolved around the program for the opening of the games. Professor of art history at the University of Jyväskylä Heikki Hanka A couple of days after the opening, STT was bombarded with views that Christianity was mocked at the opening.
Before the Games, there were concerns about possible vandalism, terrorist attacks and cyber security.
At the beginning of the Games, there were disruptions in the bullet train traffic due to suspected arson, but there have reportedly been no problems with the security measures at the venues. In the street scene, security measures have been seen, for example, in the form of a large number of police officers.
IOC bosses tend to praise the Olympians during the last days of the competition. So did the chairman of the IOC, Thomas Bach, at the press conference on Friday.
– These Olympics are a love story, he teased without sparing exaggerations.
The competition atmosphere has been raised even more by the success of the French athletes. The big stars of the Paris Olympics include a French swimmer Leon Marchandwhich celebrated four individual gold medals.