IOC President Thomas Bach honored with bust in Beijing park

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has been honored with a bust bearing his likeness in Beijing.

The bust is the work of sculptor Yuan Xikun and it was unveiled by the IOC and Beijing 2022 vice-president Yu Zaiqing.

“The Olympics include not only sport, but art and culture,” said Yu to the state network China Central Television. “These works fully embody the art and culture of the Olympics.”

Bach’s tribute is located at the Dongsi Community Olympic Park in the Dongcheng district. The park also features busts of Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the IOC president in 2001 when Beijing was awarded the Summer Olympics for 2008, and Jacques Rogge who was president during the Beijing 2008 Games.

There is also a statue of a Baron Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the IOC and its second president, sitting in a chair.

The inscription for Bach’s bust reads “Ninth President of the International Olympic Committee” and is written both in Chinese and English.

State television claims Dongsi Community Olympic Park is the first park in Beijing “dedicated to promoting the Olympic spirit.”