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International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach says he intends to stand down after the end of his second term next year.
The German lawyer, who has been in charge since 2013, surprised members at a session during the Paris Games, saying he would not continue despite being asked to.
An extension would have required a change in the Olympic charter that limits the president to a maximum of 12 years – a first eight-year term and a second four-year term, that he himself had helped draft.
“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,” he said in an emotional speech.
The new IOC president will be elected in March 2025 at a session in ancient Olympia and will take over in June of that year, Bach said.
No member has yet openly campaigned to succeed him.
An Olympic fencing champion in 1976 who joined the Olympic body as a member in 1991, Bach has ruled firmly since taking over from his predecessor Jacques Rogge 11 years ago.
He introduced sweeping reforms for the faster introduction of sports onto the Olympic programme, and to the bidding process and staging of the Games, reducing overall costs and making the event more attractive to potential candidate cities.
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