ATR First: Thomas Bach Attending the Opening of Lima 2019

(ATR) The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, will attend the opening ceremony of the Pan American Games in Lima on July 26, IOC sources reveal to Around the Rings.

Bach will return to South America nine months after attending the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, a trip preceded by his visit to Mexico for the events of the 50th anniversary of the 1968 Olympic Games.

It cannot be confirmed if the Olympic leader will take advantage of his trip to Peru to visit other countries in the area.

A source from Panam Sports told ATR that Bach's participation in the General Assembly of the sports organization is expected one day before the opening of the Games.

The Lima Games will be the second Pan American Games attended by Bach in his capacity as President of the IOC, a position for which he was elected in October 2013 during the IOC Session in Buenos Aires.

In the summer of 2015, the German sports leader and the Montreal Olympic champion in 1976 was present at the Toronto Continental Games.

Bach attended the 2011 Pan American Games in Guadalajara as vice president of the IOC, invited by the deceased president of PASO Mario Vázquez Raña.

Bach will lead the inauguration of the new Olympic House in Lausanne on June 23, the Olympic Day.

For this ceremony, all the presidents of the International Sports Federations and the National Olympic Committees from around the world as well as the members of the IOC, were invited, the Olympic source told ATR.

The list of guests includes several local authorities led by Uli Maurer, president of the Swiss Confederation, and Nuria Gorrite, president of the Council of the State of the Canton of Vaud.

Also expected are more than 30 Olympic medalists who, along with the Olympic laureates among the IOC members who will also attend, will mean more than 125 Olympic medals will shine at the ceremony.

Reported by Miguel Hernandez.