Thomas Bach elected International Olympic Committee President

German Thomas Bach has been elected as the new President of the International Olympic Committee.

The 59-year-old lawyer and former Olympic fencing gold medallist succeeds Belgium's Jacques Rogge, who is standing down after 12 years in charge.

Maintaining a European stranglehold on the most powerful job in world sport, the German was elected ahead of Ser Miang Ng of Singapore, Puerto Rican banker Richard Carrion, Ukrainian pole-vault champion Sergey Bubka, Denis Oswald of Switzerland and International Boxing Federation head CK Wu of Taiwan

Bach, a firm favourite among the six candidates, secured victory in the second round of voting, polling 49 of the available 93 votes and beating Carrion into second place on 29 votes.

Bach, who is the ninth President in the IOC's 119-year history, has been elected for an eight-year term, with the possibility of a second, four-year, mandate.

Speaking after his election win, Bach stated "I'd like to thank all my dear friends and colleagues who voted for me.

"This is an overwhelming sign of trust and confidence.

"I know of the great responsibility of being IOC president. This makes me humble.

"I want to lead according to my motto: 'unity in diversity'. This means I will do my very best to balance all the different interests of stakeholders of the Olympic movement."

Asked what his first task was, he replied "the first challenge will be to celebrate. We have the challenge of organising the Sochi Winter Games. We have to prepare well and I am sure they will be great Games."

The first German to run a major international sports body, Bach will have to go straight to work with the Sochi Olympics, starting in February, under scrutiny over a controversial Russian anti-gay propaganda law.

In addition the 2016 summer Games in Rio de Janeiro are plagued by delays with the IOC eager to see work sped up.

Sitting on the boards of several companies, Bach is also the chairman of the Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and his involvement with the Olympic movement stretches back to the milestone Olympic congress in Baden-Baden where he became a representative of the athletes.

As head of the IOC's juridical commission and its disciplinary commission Bach has also been at the forefront of sanctioning drugs cheats, in line with Rogge's "zero tolerance" policy.

Thomas Bach
Age: 59
Nationality: German
Sports administration: Supervisory board member of the FIFA 2006 World Cup Organising Committee; Chairman of the Board of trustees of the FIFA Women's World Cup Germany 2011 Organising Committee
IOC history: Member (1996-2000) of the IOC executive board then vice-president (2000-2004); re-elected vice-president (2006-2013).

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