Josef Fendt congratulates on behalf of FIL: “The best candidate was elected”
Buenos Aires (pps) German Thomas Bach was elected as new president of the International Olympic Committee, IOC. At the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires (Argentina) the 59-year-old won the clear majority of his 93 fellow IOC members in the second round of voting to beat his five rivals.
“Not only personally but also with the sport in mind I’m pleased that Thomas Bach was elected. From my point of view the IOC has chosen the best candidate with the most comprehensive knowledge in all areas of the sport and the IOC,” Josef Fendt, President of the International Luge Federation (FIL), was very pleased with the decision in Buenos Aires on Tuesday afternoon. “I’m sure that Thomas Bach will initiate some important changes and will leave ‘his mark’ in international sport.”
Bach, who won a fencing gold medal in the team foil at the 1976 Olympic Games, joined the IOC in 1991 and has held a number of roles, serving lately as vice president. Since 2006 Bach, a lawyer by profession, has been serving as president of the German Olympic Sports Federation (DOSB). He will now succeed Belgium’s Jacques Rogge as IOC president, who stepped down after 12 years in charge.
Fendt evaluates Bach’s election as a good chance for the sport in Germany: “It is certainly a great recognition of his work when the DOSB president becomes IOC president. It’s positive and helpful, bearing in mind the possible Munich bid for the Olympic Games.” Both Bach and Fendt know each other from their time as athletes. Similar to Bach, Fendt earned an Olympic medal in 1976 – a silver medal in the men’s singles at the Winter Games in Innsbruck. “To date we have kept personal and friendly contacts. I greatly appreciate him. He has always been sympathetic towards our sport.”
Luge is one of the Olympic key sports and has been part of the program of Olympic Winter Games since 1964. In 2014, at the Winter Games in Sochi (Russia), medals in the Team Relay event will be awarded for the first time.
