Thomas Bach was elected to an eight-year term as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after two rounds of votes at the 125th IOC session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 10 September. Bach will have the possibility of running for one additional four-year term at the 133rd IOC session in 2021. Bach, a 59-year-old German lawyer, became the new IOC president after defeating five other candidates: Ukrainian Sergey Bubka, Puerto Rican Richard Carrion, Swiss Denis Oswald, Singaporean Ser Miang Ng and Ching-Kuo Wu of Chinese Taipei. In the first round Bach took 43 votes, Carrion 23, Bubka 8, Ng 6, Oswald 7 and Wu 6. In the runoff of the first round, businessman Ng took 56 votes over boxing chief Wu who received only 36 votes. Wu was eliminated after the runoff, leaving five candidates in the final round where Bach collected 49 votes giving him the majority needed to be elected while Carrion took 29 votes, Ng 6, Oswald 5 and Bubka 4. Bach was a former German fencer. He won gold medal in the team foil event in the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal. He was crowned the winner at the world championship in Buenos Aires in 1977. Bach was president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) since 2006. He also served from 2000 until 2004 and again in 2006 as the IOC's vice president. He has been a member of the IOC since 1991. After winning the election, Bach became the first German ever to head a global Olympic body. He replaces Belgian Jacques Rogge who left office after 12 years as the IOC's president, from 2001 to 2013. Bubka, the 49-year-old doctor of pedagogy, was a retired pole vaulter legend. The Ukrainian won the pole vault in six consecutive IAAF World Championships in athletics from 1983 to 1997. He broke the world record for men's pole vaulting 35 times and remains the current holder with 6.15 metres. He was a member of the Ukrainian parliament and its Committee for Youth, Culture and Sport and Tourism from 2002 to 2006. He was also a member of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Ukraine as chief advisor to the prime minister on sports from 2002 till 2005. Bubka was advisor to the president of Ukraine in 2010 and a member of the Humanitarian Council. Carrion, 60, is a banker and philanthropist. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Popular, Inc., the largest company in Puerto Rico, and parent company of Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, Banco Popular North America and E-loan. He has been a member of the IOC since 1990 and currently chairs the Finance Commission. He is also a member of the IOC's Marketing, TV and Internet Rights Commissions. Ng, 64, was Singaporean athlete, entrepreneur, and diplomat. He has been an IOC member since 1998 and a vice-president since 2009. He was president of the Singapore Yachting Association in the early 1990s and later being elected as vice president of the International Sailing Federation in 1994. Ng was Singapore ambassador to Norway in 2001 and to Hungary from 2000 to 2012. He was elected a member of parliament from 2002 to 2005. Oswald, 66, was an Olympic rower who won the bronze in the coxed fours at the 1968 Games. In 1989, he was president of the International Rowing Federation and has been an IOC member since 2000. He headed the IOC's coordination committee for the 2012 summer Olympics. Wu, 67, is an architect and was captain of the Tung-Hai University basketball team from 1966 to1968. He was a silver medalist at the National Basketball Championship of President Chiang Kai-Shek in 1966. He has been an IOC member since 1988. He has been president of the International Boxing Federation since 2006.
