Bach praises IOC members for "swallowing" any dissent to back Agenda 2020 proposals

By Nick Butler at the Grimaldi Forum in Monte Carlo

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach cut a delighted, if slightly weary, figure here evening as he celebrated a day which could barely have gone better.

Although it was widely expected all 40 of the recommendations proposed as part of the year-long Agenda 2020 reform process would be passed, the fact that each received unanimous approval exceeded even his own expectations.

"The speed at which Olympic Agenda 2020 was approved showed the great support and determination of the members to make it happen", said the German, who has now implemented many of the reforms he promised last year when campaigning for the Presidency.

"It was a very, very positive surprise.

"But it followed over a year of constructive discussions.

"Some of the recommendations were not easy for certain members to swallow, some may have hoped for no recommendation or a different recommendation on a specific issue.

"So it was encouraging that regardless of their individual interests or positions, they were determined to make Olympic Agenda 2020 a success, I have a great deal of respect for them to do this."

The unanimous acceptance of the Agenda 2020 recommendations will be interpreted as a strong personal triumph for Thomas Bach ©IOC

Of the 40 recommendations, the most concrete change was to give a green light to the first full-time Olympic Television Channel, something long discussed but never implemented.

Proposals to consider a more flexible sports programme and to change aspects of the Olympic bidding process, including allowing events to be held outside a host city to save costs, were among other striking ideas.

Many questions still remain as to how these changes will be implemented in practice, with Bach not giving too much away, jokingly answering "give me a break" when asked what the next step now was following the Session.

But while many reforms, such as a proposal to include non-discrimination on sexual orientation in the 6th Fundamental Principal of Olympism, will be enforced immediately, others will require more discussion and evaluation, he admitted, refusing to be drawn at this stage on the question of which new sports, if any, will feature at Tokyo 2020.

"We will go back to Lausanne after this Session and will start to prepare these priorities, then will take a decision," he said.

"We will have to consider things like the budget and organisation in a lot of cases."

A proposal for a limited reform to IOC member age limits also passed unanimously, after a show of support from the longest-serving member, Russia's Vitali Smirnov (right)
©Getty Images

But despite some arguing the practical impacts of the recommendations will be minimal, and others predicting many more battles lie ahead, Bach was in no doubt today was a day of huge significance, insisting it would be remembered favourably in 10 or 20 years time.

"This will be a positive day," he claimed.

"We took the right decisions with a vision for the future of the Olympic Movement.

"We are getting the Movement closer to the youth and the people and are really fostering our relations with society at large."

He will return tomorrow for the conclusion of the IOC Session, which will see among other items, a vote to consider the full membership of Kosovo as an Olympic member.

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