12 December 2024 – IOC President Thomas Bach was in Madrid on Wednesday to visit the National Olympic Committee of Spain (COE), meet the Spanish Prime Minister; and present the Olympic Order to COE President Alejandro Blanco, who accompanied him throughout the visit.
President Bach also visited the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, at the Palace of Moncloa.
In a very friendly and fruitful meeting, the two leaders spoke about the great success of the Spanish team at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. President Bach congratulated the Prime Minister on the performance of the Spanish team and thanked him for his great contribution to the ultimately successful effort to have the athletes from the territories of all 206 NOCs present at the Games in Paris. He also thanked him for helping to defend the IOC’s political neutrality.
The Prime Minister informed President Bach about a very comprehensive government initiative in Spain to promote and benefit from the social values of sport, and to offer business opportunities to small- and medium-sized businesses through sport across Spain.
Finally, they discussed the opportunities, benefits and risks of artificial intelligence for sport, in line with the Olympic AI Agenda. They agreed to explore opportunities for a close cooperation with Spain in this field, in which Spain, in some respects, has already taken a lead.
President Bach expressed his appreciation that Spain, in line with the IOC, is calling for the UN to take the lead for a global regulation of AI. He noted that Spain has taken a leadership role with the same aim for AI: to develop safeguarding; to protect human dignity; and to make the benefits of AI available to everyone, in order not to aggravate the already existing inequalities within countries and among countries.
Later that evening, the President awarded the Olympic Order to the President of the COE, Alejandro Blanco, praising him for his extraordinary leadership of the Olympic Movement in Spain. The Spanish Prime Minister was also in attendance.
Presenting the Olympic Order President Bach said: “With you, my dear friend, we have an outstanding ambassador, advocate and promoter of our Olympic mission of making the world a better place through sport.”
Accepting the award, President Blanco praised the IOC for its role in protecting sport.
“The IOC is committed to promoting equality, the vision of constantly adapting itself to the demands of society, and to defending sport,” he said.
He went on to praise his athletes and their part in the great success of the Olympic Games Paris 2024, and reminded the audience, which included many athletes who had competed in Paris: “None of the sporting triumphs that have been achieved can be won without dreams, without values and without working together.”
Earlier in the day, the President joined a meeting of the Executive Board of the Spanish NOC, before having a celebratory lunch with Spanish medallists from the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
