At the halfway point in a two-day trip, the first to the Balkan Republic by an IOC President, the German met with Kosovo’s President Atifete Jahjaga and Prime Minister Isa Mustafa before visiting various iconic sites in the capital city.

These include several monuments to the 1999 conflict with Serbia which have so shaped Kosovan national identity.

Bach presented Jahjaga, Kosovo’s first female President, with a Coubertin medal for political leaders, an award originally conceived by Modern Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin which has been recently revived by Bach.

He then visited aspiring athletes across a myriad of different sports, attempting several with typical enthusiasm as he encouraged athletes to aim for both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Bach was accompanied throughout by Kosovo Olympic Committee President Besim Hasani, the chief architect of a two-decade long campaign for Olympic inclusion, which was officially and unanimously confirmed at last December’s IOC Session in Monte Carlo.

At a commemorative dinner also attended by representatives of the Albanian National Olympic Committees, as well as of various Kosovan Federations, Bach praised the campaign orchestrated by Hasani and promised to support the country. 

“When we speak to athletes and political leaders, we know we made the right decision,” he claimed.

“You cannot now be complacent in continuing your progress, but the IOC will be at your side.

“We want our youngest child to grow.”

Bach, for whom recognising Kosovo marks perhaps the biggest decision of his 18-month Presidency so far, then promised to “try his best” to be present when the first Kosovan Olympic medal is presented, be it at either Rio 2016 or Tokyo 2020.

The issue of recognition has been an issue of fierce debate ever since Kosovan independence was officially declared from Serbia in 2008 after years of tensions.

The Republic is now recognised by 110 of the 193 United Nations members, but several key players, including Russia and China, as well as Serbia remain opposed, and this had been a barrier to Olympic inclusion.

But, in what was lauded as an example of the autonomy of sport, the IOC Executive Board granted provisional acceptance in October before it was rubber=stamped by the wider membership two months later.

A total of 17 Olympic Summer and Winter Sports Federations have now recognised Kosovo, starting with the International Judo Federation which officially gave Kosovo membership first in 2012 and most recently earlier this week with the International Association of Athletics Federations.

Football governing body FIFA, meanwhile, allows the country to play friendlies but not compete in tournaments, while shooting, tennis and volleyball have yet to grant Kosovo any kind of recognition.

It is hoped that positive progress will occur in all of these sports over coming months.

Bach and his IOC delegation, which also included the body’s director general Christophe de Kepper and sports director Kit McConnell, will stay here tomorrow to continue their visit before departing to Sochi for the SportAccord Convention.

In a typically gruelling week of travelling, the group began the week in New York City before returning to Lausanne for meetings with French President François Hollande and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.

Earlier today, they also visited Belgrade, where they met with representatives from the Olympic Committee of Serbia, but not the Government.

They then travelled southwards to here, via a stop in Skopje, Macedonia, because of restrictions on travelling directly between Serbia and Kosovo.

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