Bach loves China and likes "the enthusiasm of this generation of Chinese people for the Olympic Movement."
| author: Ren Yan, the special correspondent of the journal in Belgium
Feng Lu Xu Ye
| Editor: Xu Ye
| Editor: Rui Su
At the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, IOC President Thomas Bach appeared in a suit, and the Chinese audience in front of the screen could not help but wonder: Is he not cold?
This topic was quickly pushed on Weibo hot search, and the number of reads exceeded 300 million.
Bach appears in a suit.
By the time of the speech session, Bach had already put on his down jacket.
This is just one of the fun things bach did during the Beijing Winter Olympics.
Cancel morning meetings, watch "gift-giving", "punch-in" restaurants, learn five-poultry plays, do health exercises... This time in China, Bach's itinerary is full and wonderful.
And it is no secret that Bach likes China. What he liked was "the enthusiasm of this generation of Chinese people for the Olympic Movement." In his eyes, "Beijing is the first city to host the Summer and Winter Olympic Games, which is writing history."
Enjoy the Beijing Winter Olympics
What's the best thing about the Winter Olympics?
Competitive competition, of course!
These days, Bach is often present at the competition site, cheering for the Olympic athletes on the sidelines.
On February 13, at the Capital Stadium, the short track speed skating event was underway, and Bach and IOC commissioner Zhang Hong (front row left) watched the game from the sidelines. Image source: Xinhua News Agency.
On February 8, Gu Ailing made history in the freestyle ski women's big jump final, winning the third gold medal for the Chinese team at the Winter Olympics.
Bach, wearing a blue down jacket, was also very excited, and applauded Gu Ailing in the back
Video screenshots.
At the same time, "Bach Gift" has also become a warm scene that continues to appear.
On February 7, China's Xu Mingfu had just finished his men's alpine skiing competition and was taking off his snowshoes in the end of the race. Bach quietly came to him, elbowed him in greeting, and then gave him a limited-edition Olympic commemorative watch that he had personally signed
"The first reaction was a bit blindfolded." Xu Mingfu recalled. Receiving this windfall, he was "particularly happy and did not waste all these years of hard work."
During the Tokyo Olympics last year, Bach also went to the table tennis arena to cheer on the Chinese team and gave the "little devil" Sun Yingsha an Olympic commemorative watch. Later, at the Umimori Water Arena in Tokyo, Bach made a special trip to the seat of the Chinese kayaking team to present a commemorative watch to Zheng Pengfei and Liu Hao, who won the Olympic silver medal.
The media commented that these Gifted Chinese players were either from China's dominant projects or from Projects that China has made major breakthroughs. Behind Bach's "watch" Xu Mingfu is the affirmation and praise of China's historic breakthrough in alpine skiing.
In addition to watching the game, "shopping" and "eating" are also essential.
At noon on February 9, Bach came to the restaurant of the main media center of the Beijing Winter Olympics to dine. When he saw the reporter who was eating, he asked the other party what recommended dishes were available. The reporter recommended him to eat dumplings, and as a result, Bach said that he had not eaten less dumplings recently, and he had eaten fat, and also revealed that he liked to eat spicy.
Two days later, he came to Yanqing Winter Olympic Village and had lunch at the athletes' restaurant, this time eating roast duck rolls. In a subsequent video call, he told the village chief of Yanqing Winter Olympic Village: "If I stay in this village for three days, I will grow another ten pounds, and the food here is so delicious." ”
Led by volunteers, he also came to the immersive experience screen of "Heaven and Man", learned the action essentials of "Five Birds Play", and followed the screen with great interest to complete a set of tiger opera performances
This is not Bach's first time in China, but it is his first time in China for the New Year. He has previously said that "the Winter Olympics and the Spring Festival are the perfect combination."
Talking about this special experience, he said: "Feeling the emotions of Chinese during the Spring Festival is very special, making you feel warmth, unity and harmony, plus this year is the Year of the Tiger, which symbolizes courage and strength, which is really an extraordinary experience." ”
The past two years have been "under pressure"
On the eve of the opening of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, Bach specially went to Tony of the Winter Olympic Village to give himself a "capable" hairstyle to improve his breath.
Screenshot of Red Star News video.
In the past two years, his pressure has been really not small, to face the challenge of hosting two olympic games in a row under the new crown pneumonia epidemic.
On 24 March 2020, the IOC and the Tokyo Organising Committee issued a joint statement announcing that the Olympic Games would be postponed for one year. This is the first time in history that the Olympic Games have been postponed.
"When the outbreak first broke out, we and our Japanese partners were faced with a choice: cancel or postpone [the Olympics]. Cancellation was the easiest solution for us, as well as getting insurance payments and moving directly to the Paris 2024 Olympics. But in reality, canceling the Olympics has never been our option, and the IOC will not abandon the athletes. Bach said as he recalled the decision-making process.
On July 23, 2021, amid insomnia and anxiety, Bach ushered in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic Games. No one was crowded or cheered, and the Tokyo Olympics, shrouded in the haze of the epidemic, were quieter than ever.
More than 100 days later, the new crown pneumonia epidemic has not dissipated, and the Beijing Winter Olympics have resumed.
Bach has visited China many times to investigate the preparations for the Winter Olympics, and "every time I am surprised." In his view, the preparations for the Beijing Winter Olympics were very smooth and smooth, "almost a miracle." Beijing's Olympic concept of "green, shared, open and clean" was also praised by him as setting a "new benchmark for the Olympic Games".
On February 4, 2022, Bach participated in the Olympic Torch Relay as the 45th torchbearer of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, expressing his support with practical actions.
Some Western politicians have used the covid-19 epidemic as an excuse to call for the cancellation of the Winter Olympics. He immediately responded that the closed-loop management of the Beijing Winter Olympics was "very effective and very successful", and the players and the Chinese people felt very safe about it.
After the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, he appeared and said: "We opened the Year of the Tiger in an unparalleled way, and I will never forget the wonderful opening ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics." ”
A few days after the start, Bach even reassuringly canceled the tournament coordination meeting that was supposed to be held every morning. Dolby, executive director of the IOC's Olympic department, said in an interview that it was "very rare."
Dolby believes that the reason why Bach is so relieved in Beijing is because the operation since the start of the Winter Olympics has been very successful. "Whether it is the organization of the event, the details of the arrangement, or the responsibilities of each person are in place, the whole system is working very well."
Cast "more unity" into the five rings
As a veteran sportsman with a brilliant resume, Bach has been dealing with the Olympic Games. From a fencer to joining the Olympic Committee to becoming president of the International Olympic Committee, his life is closely linked to the Olympic Games.
Born in southern Germany in 1953, he showed great athletic talent at an early age, and his favorite sport as a teenager was football, playing football all day long.
However, against his will, his parents signed him up for a local fencing club. "I had a heated discussion with my parents and I was in tears, but I ended up going to the fencing club."
Later, Bach studied law at university and trained in fencing in his spare time. Unexpectedly, I practiced and became a world champion-
1976 Montreal Olympics Men's Foil Team Champion;
1977 World Championship Team Champion;
In 1978, he won the German individual foil and the team champion of the European Championship.
In 1979, the world cup team bronze medal.
Bach in his youth.
In 1981, Bach became acquainted with the International Olympic Committee.
With his eloquent and eloquent speech and his knowledge of four Chinese german, English, French and Spanish, he was elected to the newly formed IOC Athletes' Committee, much to the attention of samaranch, then president of the IOC.
At the age of 30, Bach received his doctorate in law and began his career as a lawyer. Later, he joined large companies such as Siemens and became a business elite. He is said to earn as much as 400,000 euros (about 2.8 million yuan) a year when he works at Siemens.
But in 1991, Bach chose to return to the IOC.
Five years later, he became an executive committee member, in charge of judicial work, and led the investigation of several anti-doping cases. He also contributed significantly to the television rights deal, which made him regarded by the IOC executives as a "god of wealth" with business acumen. In 1994, he was appointed President of the Appeals Tribunal of the International Court of Sport. In 2000 and 2006, he became Vice-President of the International Olympic Committee twice.
The status of Olympic champion, the qualification of the Olympic Committee member and the advantages of the traditional European sports powers have created unique conditions for Bach. In 2013, he beat five competitors with extensive organizational experience and was elected the ninth President of the International Olympic Committee. He thus became the first Olympic champion in history to be elected president of the International Olympic Committee.
The first term of office of the President of the International Olympic Committee is 8 years, renewable once for a term of 4 years. Bach is re-elected in 2021 and will continue to run the world's largest sports body until 2025.
After becoming president of the International Olympic Committee, Bach resigned as an advisor to some of the largest companies. The chairman's income is not higher than when he was in the enterprise, and the official annual income is 225,000 euros (about 1.58 million yuan).
He does not own a house in Lausanne, Switzerland (home to the IOC headquarters) and has been living in an apartment arranged by the IOC. His wife, Claudia, was a teacher and resigned to lausanne in support of Bach. The two have been married for 40 years and have no children.
Bach likened his role to "the chief conductor of the symphony orchestra", whose main responsibility was to "let the talents of all the players be brought into play, and let the strength of all the members be unleashed". He wanted to "lead the IOC to the harmony of the World Symphony Orchestra" and pay more attention to the symbolism of the Olympic Games in terms of "world unity".
After his successful re-election in 2021, he proposed adding the word "more united" to the Olympic motto "faster, higher, stronger".
"'More solidarity' reflects, first and foremost, the diversity of the Olympic Games, and on the other hand, we must recognize that a heavy lesson should be learned through covid-19 – that in a world where we are interdependent, humanity must be united to address the challenges it faces," he said. ”
Bach also joked: "After the presidential election, I came to the garden of the Olympic House, in front of the statue of Coubertin [the founder of the Olympic movement], asked him if he agreed with my proposal, and Coubertin smiled at me. ”
Industry insiders believe that "more unity" is highly consistent with China's concept of a community with a shared future for mankind, which is not only a deep call for the ideal of peace, but also reflects people's sincere expectations for world peace. The slogan of the Beijing Winter Olympics, "Together for the Future", is also highly consistent with the Olympic spirit of "more unity".
As Bach said at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, we live in a fragile world with rising divisions, conflicts and suspicions. We want to prove to the world that competitors can coexist peacefully and respect each other. To unite people in the competition is the mission of the Olympic Games.