All you need to know about new IOC president Thomas Bach

Factbox on Thomas Bach, who was elected on Tuesday as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). - Born in Germany on December 29, 1953. - Played soccer and tennis and was a champion fencer, winning numerous national and international titles. In 1976, he won a gold medal in the team foil at the Montreal Olympics. A year later, he was a member of the German team who won the world championship in Buenos Aires. [caption id=“attachment_1100349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  He joined the IOC in 1991 and served on a range of commissions, including press, marketing, judicial and sport and the law. Getty Images[/caption] - A lawyer by profession, Bach worked as an executive at the sportswear manufacturer Adidas. He is currently chairman of the board of the Michael Weinig AG Company and various other company boards as well as president of the Ghorfa Arab-German Chamber of Commerce and Industry. - He joined the IOC in 1991 and served on a range of commissions, including press, marketing, judicial and sport and the law. - He was elected to the IOC Executive Board in 2000 then again in 2006. He is also the head of the German Olympic Committee. - Before being elected as IOC president, he was one four vice-presidents. - An influential member, Bach was regarded as the overwhelming favourite to succeed Jacques Rogge as ninth IOC president, and the first from Germany. - The motto in his 14-page manifesto was “unity in diversity”. He called for more debate on how the IOC selects sports for the Olympics programme and greater transparency. - Bach has also asked for a review of the Youth Olympics and the requirement that IOC members should retire at 70 and has also been an advocate for creating an Olympic television network. Reuters