LAUSANNE: The executive board of the International Olympic Committee has formally agreed to accept the resignation of president Thomas Bach as an IOC member after June 23 when he hands over to his successor. The election is on March 20 in Costa Navarino, Greece.

Bach announced at the IOC Session in Paris that he would not seek to change the rules to seek an extension of his 12 years in charge, despite calls from some IOC members.

He had been elected on September 10, 2013, and was re-elected for a second four-year term on March 10, 2021.

Bach became an Olympic champion when he won a gold medal with his team in foil fencing at the Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal in 1976. In 2006, he was elected as the founding president of the German Olympic Sports Confederation.

Bach was an athletes’ representative at the XI Olympic Congress in Baden-Baden (1981) and a founding member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission. He was elected as an IOC Member in 1991, and 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.

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