KEIR RADNEDGE REPORTING: Thomas Bach has scotched increasing speculation that he wanted to stay on as president of the International Olympic Committee.

Bach was elected for his first eight-year stint in 2013 and then re-elected unopposed for a second, statutory, four-year term. Now he has said he will not be bowing to supporters who wanted him to find a way to bend the Olympic Charter rules and continue in office.

The German lawyer told the IOC Session in Paris: “After 12 years in the office of IOC president our organisation is best served with a change in leadership. New times are calling for new leaders. I, with my age, am not the best captain. I know with this decision I am disappointing many of you.”

Bach, 70, said he expected his successor to be elected at the session in Ancient Olympia in Greece next March 18-21 and take office in June.

The 1976 Olympic fencing champion will leave a notable legacy. Bach, who became an IOC member in 1991, has introduced reforms bringing more populist sports into the Olympic programme, streamlined the Games bidding system – albeit amid controversy – and opened the door to esports.

Speculation had grown since last year that Bach could stay on after IOC members asked him to consider changing Olympic Charter rules that would end his leadership.

Bach, 70, ended that speculation Saturday in Paris, saying the IOC needed a new leader who could steer the Olympic movement through an increasingly digital and politically pressured world.

Greek gift

“New times are calling for new leaders,” Bach told the IOC membership in Paris in a speech where he paused to hold back tears. “I, with my age, am not the best captain. I know with this decision I am disappointing many of you.”

Candidates for the Bach succession could include former Olympic champion swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, David Lappartient, head of the International Cycling Union, as well as vice-presidents Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba and Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain, whose father was IOC president for 21 years.

Sebastian Coe, the president of World Athletics, is another possibility though he would be 68, two years short of the IOC age limit.

#########