03 March 2025 - International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach was honoured at the weekend during the General Assembly of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) in Frankfurt/Main, Germany.
“Dear President, thank you for your steadfast support of the EOC and of European sport over the past 12 years. You have brought to us the voice of the Olympic Movement, recalling its mission and its position on current issues. You have shared our concerns and our emotions during the various elections, for the birth and then the success of the European Games, when the pandemic hit us, when the tragedy of Ukraine entered our world, before and after the preparation of the Paris Games, and climate change and Artificial Intelligence,” said EOC President and IOC Member Spyros Capralos, who was re-elected unopposed at the Assembly.
In his speech, the IOC President congratulated the EOC on the success of its NOCs at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and thanked it for its support during the last 12 years: “As we look to the future of the Olympic Movement, I ask you to offer my successor the same spirit of solidarity and friendship which I was so fortunate to enjoy over the many years here among you. The EOC will always have a special place in my heart.”
Besides the success stories of Paris 2024, Bach also highlighted the importance of solidarity in today’s world: “Every National Olympic Committee (NOC), big or small, plays an essential role. This Olympic Movement is about unity and solidarity among all. We do not have a global south or a global north. We have one community of 206 NOCs. All deserve our attention, our appreciation and our solidarity. This Olympic Solidarity is fuelling our mission.”
We have gone a long way together. The emphasis is on ‘together’. This is why I would like to thank each and every one of you for your very special contribution to the success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and for having maintained the unity and the determination of the European Olympic Movement on the sometimes bumpy road leading to Paris. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
Thomas Bach, IOC President
Closing his speech, the IOC President said: “Today, I do not say ‘farewell’. I say ‘see you soon.’”
In his address to the EOC General Assembly, the President of the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), Thomas Weikert, also thanked Bach, who had been the founding DOSB President before taking over the IOC presidency: “We all know what an inestimable contribution you have made to promoting the Olympic Movement and sport worldwide in your capacity as President of the International Olympic Committee. You initiated crucial reforms through Olympic Agenda 2020 and Olympic Agenda 2020+5. Reforms that ensure that the Movement rests on solid future foundations. You guided the Olympic Movement through the pandemic and other major challenges. And have not tired in fostering solidarity and peaceful coexistence. For that alone, you thoroughly deserve our cordial thanks and highest recognition,” Weikert said.
While in Frankfurt, where the DOSB is headquartered, Bach was also invited by the Mayor, Mike Josef, to sign the city’s Golden Book. “Thank you very much for the strong support. Frankfurt is certainly a city of sport,” he wrote.
