A former Olympic champion has been elected president of the International Olympic Committee to replace Belgian Jacques Rogge, who stepped down after 12 years.
German Thomas Bach was elected over five other candidates to become the ninth president of the 119 year old IOC.
All IOC leaders have come from Europe except for Avery Brundage, an American who ran the committee from 1952-72.
Bach was an Olympic fencing champion at the 1976 Games, and the founding president of Germany's Olympic Sports Confederation, which has grown to 28 million members.
As head of the IOC disciplinary commission Bach has also been at the forefront of sanctioning drug cheats under Rogge's "zero tolerance'' policy.
At its meeting last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the IOC also voted to hold the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and to bring wrestling back into the games.
German Thomas Bach was elected over five other candidates to become the ninth president of the 119 year old IOC.
All IOC leaders have come from Europe except for Avery Brundage, an American who ran the committee from 1952-72.
Bach was an Olympic fencing champion at the 1976 Games, and the founding president of Germany's Olympic Sports Confederation, which has grown to 28 million members.
As head of the IOC disciplinary commission Bach has also been at the forefront of sanctioning drug cheats under Rogge's "zero tolerance'' policy.
At its meeting last week in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the IOC also voted to hold the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo and to bring wrestling back into the games.