Olympic history was written today in a highly symbolic and emotional ceremony at Olympic House in Lausanne, Switzerland, to mark the handover of the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from Thomas Bach to Kirsty Coventry, which officially takes place tonight at midnight. Bach, an Olympic champion in fencing for Germany at the Olympic Games Montreal 1976, has been leading the organization for 12 years following his election as the 9th IOC President in 2013.
On Olympic Day, which takes place on 23 June each year to commemorate the founding of the modern Olympic Games in 1894 based on the initiative by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, Bach symbolically passed the key for Olympic House from one Olympic champion to another in a moment of historical significance. Coventry, a double Olympic champion in swimming from Zimbabwe (2004, 2008), was elected as the 10th IOC President at the 144th IOC Session this March in Olympia, Greece. She is the first woman and the first African ever to hold the IOC’s highest office and has been elected for a term of eight years.
The key, designed by Spanish artist André Ricard, who also created the torch of the Olympic Games Barcelona 1992 and the Olympic fire crucible at the Olympic Museum, was first passed during the handover from Juan Antonio Samaranch to Jacques Rogge in 2001.
More than 700 assembled guests – including IOC Members, athletes, Olympic Movement representatives, delegates from international organisations, political leaders and IOC staff – witnessed an emotional ceremony.
The full release from the IOC can be found here, including remarks from Bach and Coventry.
