Lord of the rings

It is a considerable feat as Rogge had faced a tough task after the IOC had been badly tarnished in the final years of Juan Antonio Samaranchs stewardship over the bribes for votes scandal concerning the successful Salt Lake City bid for the 2002 Winter Olympics.

The sextet of candidates all men and none from Africa will take over an IOC that Rogge revealed on Sunday is in great financial health and,with over 900 million in reserve,could afford the cancellation of an Olympic Games.

However,Rogges successor will have been made painfully aware on Sunday that his main headache will be the preparations for the Rio Games in 2016.

Mondays fare for the assembled IOC members is far lower key than the two previous frenetic days of elections for the host city for 2020 won by Tokyo and a sport for the 2020 and 2024 Games which saw wrestling restored to the programme after a remarkable seven month fightback.

the favourite

Monday will see reports by the heads of various commissions the essence of the smooth running of the IOC. The favourite for replacing Rogge remains Thomas Bach,who would become the first Olympic gold medalist to assume the role having won the team foil fencing title in 1976. The 59-year-old German lawyer has made the IOC and its future his life since becoming interested in sports politics when he was irritated at the dismissive manner in which German politicians treated him in his role as the West German athletes spokesman in the debate over the boycott of the 1980 Olympics.

In 1980 I was the spokesman for all the West German athletes and fought really hard for us to be able to compete in Moscow, he had said.

This for me was the turning point from being an athlete to entering sports politics. I accepted to become a member of the German NOC because I wanted to avoid the situation where a future generation of athletes would suffer in the same way every athletes ambition is to compete in an Olympics and for some 1980 was their only chance.

We were more or less dismissed by them and it was the same with regard to politics and society in general. I had discussions about the boycott with the then chancellor Helmut Schmidt and president Karl Carstens and I always had the feeling they had no interest in sport.

The only clouds hanging over the smart and assured performer has come from within Germany. An academic report released in early August on organised doping in the former West Germany in the 1970s posed the question of whether he was aware of what was going on,which he says he was not,and latterly a documentary on German TV that was far from complimentary but did little damage.

lance yet to return medal

Disgraced retired cyclist Lance Armstrong has yet to hand back his Sydney 2000 Olympic medal,officials said on Monday. Following his public confession,the IOC ordered the return of the bronze medal he won in the time-trial at the Sydney 2000 Games and declared the race results void. IOC vice president Thomas Bach,who also heads the IOC’s juridical commission,said the rider had not challenged the decision to strip him of his medal.

“We still do not have the medal back,” Bach told an IOC session. “We will continue to work with the United States Olympic Committee to get this medal back as requested in our decision.

“This the IOC’s January decision has been communicated to Mr Armstrong and the USOC. This decision has not been appealed neither by Mr Armstrong,nor by the USOC and what we are lacking,sadly,is getting back the medal. Legally the case for the IOC is closed.”

tough times ahead for rio

The head of marketing for the IOC warned on Monday that organisers for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics are facing tough conditions trying to sell local sponsorships for South America’s first games. Norwegian Gerhard Heiberg said the climate had changed in Brazil,which is facing a slowing economy that makes companies less willing to invest in sponsorships.

Leo Gryner,chief operating officer of the Rio organising committee,acknowledged last month that 700 million in government money might be needed to balance the operating budget for the Games if there is a shortfall in selling local sponsorships.

Rio’s organising committee exceeded its initial sponsorship target of 1 billion reals 440 million but is yet to announce its operating budget,which is expected to be between 3.5-4 billion.