A cult of personality has ruled the IOC since 2013. Now God, some call him Louis Quatorze, is holding court in France. One of the most important questions of these Games in Paris: will IOC's propaganda department produce even more images of God than at the current record in Rio de Janeiro 2016?
The IOC president sought to get close to Putin even after the Sochi Doping Games. He fraternised with Xi Jinping. He politicised the 2018 Games in South Korea, driven by the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize. All a miserable failure that dragged the Games deeper into a political quagmire. A commentary.
Thomas Bach has been re-elected as IOC President for a final term without any opponents or opposition. Using Bach’s doctoral thesis as a departure point, Jens Weinreich describes how constantly planning for the future has provided Bach with an unprecedented hold on power in the Olympic system.
