By Duncan Mackay

IOC chief Thomas Bach met Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome during his visit to Addis Ababa ©IOCEthiopian distance running legend Haile Gebrselassie was among those who greeted International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach on his visit to Addis Ababa, the third country on his whistle stop tour of Africa.


Gebrselassie, the Olympic 10,000 metres champion at Atlanta 1996 and Sydney 2000, is probably the best-known Ethiopian in the world and attended a special lunch held for Bach.

There, Bach praised the contribution of Ethiopia's athletes to the Olympics since Abebe Bikila won the country's first gold medal, in the marathon at Rome 1960.

Ethiopia's seven medals at London 2012 took their total to 45, 21 of them gold. 

Ethiopia's Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus praised the power of the Olympics to "reinforce the image of a country and unite the people behind a common goal".

Ethiopia's Haile Gebrselassie celebrates winning the Olympic 10,000 metres at Sydney 2000 ©Getty ImagesEthiopia's Haile Gebrselassie celebrates winning the Olympic 10,000 metres at Sydney 2000 ©Getty Images

Bach also met with Ethiopian President Mulatu Teshome and discussed enhancing the collaboration between them and the Olympic Movement.

"The values of sport can be invaluable to a country in helping to bring people together and to forge social cohesion," said Bach, who was accompanied during his trip by by Ethiopia's IOC member Dagmawit Girmay Berhane and Lassana Palenfo, President of the Association of National Olympic Committees of Africa.

"And it is good to see Olympic Solidarity and Olympafrica helping to deliver this in Ethiopia."

Bach flew into Addis Ababa from Kenya, where he had visited Elodret, having previously visited Botswana's capital Gaborone to attend the end of the 2nd African Youth Games. 

During his visit to Ethiopia, Bach underlined the importance of autonomy to allow sport to flourish.

The day finished with a visit to the Ethiopian Olympic Committee headquarters and to the Ethiopian Youth Sports Academy, where Bach met young athletes.

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