September 11, 2013 (Buenos Aries, Argentina) – It was a big week for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), with three major decisions at last finalized when the IOC Session met in Buenos Aries, Argentina. When the dust settled, Tokyo, wrestling and Thomas Bach came away the big winners from the 125th Session.

The first announcement held the attention of the world as three cities were in the running to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. By a final vote of 60-36, the IOC Session voted that the Games will go to Tokyo for a second time as the Asian nation edged Istanbul, Turkey in the final round of voting. Knocked out in the first round was Madrid, Spain.

“Congratulations to the city of Tokyo on its election as host of the 2020 Olympic Games,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge, whose 12-year term in office comes to an end on 10th  September. “Tokyo presented a very strong technical bid from the outset – and it needed to in competition with two such high-calibre bids from Istanbul and Madrid. All three cities were capable of staging excellent Games in 2020, but in the end it was Tokyo’s bid that resonated the most with the IOC membership, inviting us to “discover tomorrow” by delivering a well-organised and safe Games that will reinforce the Olympic values while demonstrating the benefits of sport to a new generation.”

The second major decision kept the attention of the sporting community on the edge their seats as the Session had to decide whether baseball/softball, squash or wrestling would be added to the 2020 Olympic Programme. In the end, wrestling regained its spot on the Olympic Programme.

Wrestling was one of the core sports on the Olympic Programme until Rio 2016, but did not feature in the IOC Executive Board’s proposal for the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Programme, which was agreed upon by the Session before the decision on the additional sport.

Thomas Bach was elected the new IOC President after just two rounds of voting. He is President of the German National Olympic Committee and has served a multitude of functions in the IOC, including serving on the IOC’s executive board, chair of the Legal Commission and Disciplinary Commission, as well leading the Evaluation Commission for the Olympic Games in 2002 and 2004, He was also the President of the Arbitration Appeals Division at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In the second, and deciding, round of voting, Bach received 49 votes compared with 29 for Richard Carrion, six for Ser Miang Ng, five for Denis Oswald and four for Sergey Bubka. CK Wu was eliminated in the first round.

The new president will serve a term of at least eight years. IOC rules permit the possibility of a four-year second term. Bach said he hoped to lead according to his campaign motto, “Unity in diversity,” and declared, “You should know that my door, my ears and my heart are always open for you.”

FIS extends its warmest congratulations to the new IOC President Thomas Bach and looks forward to a close and fruitful collaboration in the coming years.