International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has announced plans to step down when his second term ends next year.
The German lawyer, who has been president since 2013, surprised commissioners during a session during the Paris Olympics by declaring that he would not take up the post despite being asked to do so.
The extension required amending the Olympic Charter, which he helped draft, to limit the presidential term to a maximum of 12 years – eight years for the first term and four years for the second.
“After 12 years as IOC President, our organization could not be happier with a change in leadership. A new era calls for new leaders,” he said in a moving speech.
President Bach said the new IOC president would be elected at the General Assembly in ancient Olympia in March 2025, and would take office in June of that year.
No lawmaker has yet publicly campaigned to succeed him.
Bach, an Olympic fencing champion in 1976 and an Olympian since 1991, has reigned since taking over from predecessor Jacques Rogge 11 years ago.
He introduced wide-ranging reforms to bring sports into the Olympic programme more quickly, reform the bidding process and staging of events to reduce overall costs and make events more attractive to potential bidders.
