Bach Talks London Medals Table, 1976 Olympics

(ATR) German Olympic Sports Confederation president Thomas Bach tells Around the Rings and Tencent he expects his country to reach fifth on the total medals table at London 2012.

"We would be very satisfied with the fifth place," he said last month at DOSB headquarters in Frankfurt.

"We think that China and USA will be fighting for first place, and Russia will rank third. The competition between fourth and ninth will be very intense," he predicted.

"Team GB will have a better chance to finish fourth since they have a home advantage, and we would be very pleased with the fifth place if we could achieve it eventually."

For comparison, German athletes brought home 41 medals – 16 of them gold - from Beijing 2008, good for sixth overall behind USA, China, Russia, Great Britain and Australia but fifth when ordered by IOC convention of gold medals won.

Bach, also an IOC vice president, noted that Germany has more chances to win medals from individual sports this time around.

"We are very strong at water sports. Our rowing eights team won the world title last year, and we had a strong performance at the canoening world championships. Meanwhile, we are very competitive at fencing, cycling and equestrian. We are participating at lots of different sports, and we have the chance to win medals at lots of different sports, which is a characteristic of Team Germany," he said.

According to Bach, however, Germany will be sending possibly its smallest team to the Olympics since 1992 because most team sports failed to qualify for London, including men and women’s football as well as basketball.

"Our women’s football team was beaten by Japan in the quarterfinals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. Since the Union of European Football Associations decided the Olympic berths would be based on the results of the World Cup rather than arranging additional regional qualification, our team did not qualify," he explained.

Bach, however, said the poor performance of team sports should not affect the final result for Team Germany.

"Only our women’s football team had a chance to win a medal," he admitted. "It is unrealistic to expect other team sports towin medals even if they would have qualified."

"In Love with Sports"

As an Olympic fencing champion, Bach told ATR he often reflects upon the memory of his winning moment at the Games.

"It was the highlight of my sports career," he said.

"We claimed the team foil gold in Montreal in 1976, which we couldn't be more proud of as athletes. One year later, we defended our team foil title at the world championships. I still remember that we were 7-1 down against Italy in the final but came back strongly and won the title, which was one of the greatest matches in fencing history. Those two years were very importantfor me and my team," he recalled.

Bach added that the experience ofbeing an athlete contributed greatly to his life.

"I learned how to train with discipline to reach my goal when I was an athlete," he explained.

"I also knew how to handle the failure and pressure. I’d learned not to give up if the thing is not following what you expect. As you continue to do so and win eventually, you will upgrade your level and win respects from others. "

Bach also admitted he couldn't imagine his life without the Olympics.

"From my point of view, the Olympic Games are not only playing a crucial role for the athletes, they also create an opportunity for people from different countries and areas to communicate and learn from each other. Everyone can release their passions during the Games," he said.

"To me personally, I started to play football at the age of four, and then I learned fencing at six. Sports have always played an important role in my life. I was born in love with sports. My life would be meaningless without sports. "

Regarding the possibility of him succeeding Jacques Rogge as IOC president, Bach refused to comment.

"We still have almost one and half years until the election, and it would be unfair to President Rogge to comment on this because we are working very closely," he said.

"Right now, we need to focus on the London Games."

With reporting from Frankfurt by Tencent's Norman Li

20 Years at #1: