Thomas Bach

Role

President of the International Olympic Committee,
Olympic Champion, Fencing, 1976

Organization

IOC

Thomas Bach was born on 29 December 1953 in Würzburg, Germany. Married and a lawyer by profession, he has had a successful career in sport both on and off the field of play. He became an Olympic champion when he won a gold medal in fencing (team foil) at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal in 1976; and in 2006, he was named as the founding President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB).

Thomas Bach was an athletes’ representative at the XI Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden (1981) and a founding member of the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission. He became an IOC member in 1991, was elected as a member of the IOC Executive Board in 1996 and served as an IOC Vice-President for more than 10 years. He has also chaired several IOC commissions.

On 10 September 2013, Thomas Bach was elected as the ninth President of the IOC.

The speakers

Using the unique power of sport to bring people together, the Olympism in Action Forum saw a range of global players, including Olympic Movement stakeholders, athletes, private and public sector leaders, NGO representatives, academics, artists and the media come together to talk on topical contemporary issues. Chosen because of their ability to effect change and their wide range of sometimes differing opinions, the speakers led lively debates and seeked to challenge received wisdom to inspire new ways of thinking.