Orla Chennaoui: The general consensus is that the Games have been a huge success, what are your measures of success for an Olympic Games and how does this measure up?
Thomas Bach: The athletes are the ultimate measurement of any Games because if the athletes are happy then this transpires to the population and the worldwide audience. These Games have many reasons for being such a success. First of all, I think it reflects the feelings of people from around the globe who were longing for something that unites us. People are fed up with bad news, about wars, about killings, sanctions, confrontations, fake news, not knowing what is true and what is not true. Then they say the Olympic Games – a peaceful competition, everybody here, we have athletes here from countries who are at war with each other, competing peacefully with each other. They see the result on the field of play is true. This is not fake news and they appreciate this celebration of humanity, this celebration of togetherness. Our French friends have done a fantastic job, having brought to life our Olympic agenda reforms in a unique way.

OC: You mention that worldwide audience and that collective need to escape the bad news or the difficult times in life – is that why you think we had such record audience numbers all over the world for people watching these Games?
TB: I think it’s one of the reasons – it may even be the main reason. What we see here is a level of athletes performances which, in many sports, we have never seen before. What we have not seen before are so many so close decisions. That means we have more and more athletes thanks to our solidarity programmes who can perform on a high level and who can make the competitions so exciting, and give so many more athletes - also from smaller National Olympic Committees – the opportunity to win medals, to qualify for finals. Then comes the atmosphere in the stadia, the French are celebrating everybody, everywhere. This is a two-way street worldwide with spectators where the figures are just going through the roof.

 
OC: Warner Bros. Discovery are Olympic partners with the IOC until 2032. How do you see the Olympic trajectory from here until then?
TB: In Los Angeles it will be very different but it will also be a great Games. Every edition of the Games has to be authentic. If one edition tries to copy another then it would not work. If LA tried to copy the Eiffel Tower, then no way. They will present the Olympic Games according to the US culture of sport in a very different way, but I’m sure it will be very successful.

OC: We’ve had the first Olympic medal for the Refugee Team in Paris, we’ve had the most sustainable Games in history, we’ve had record numbers for global viewers – what would you like the Paris 2024 Olympic Games to be remembered for?
TB: I would like the Games to be remembered as the Games for a new era – because they have showed this new era of the Games which we have envisioned and are envisioning at the IOC. These are the Games that are closer to the people, it is more inclusive in all different ways which means more urban, it means sport is going to where people are – we don’t just sit in a stadium and wait for people to come to us. They are more sustainable with the carbon footprint reduced by 50%. These are also the first Games of full gender parity – this is how we are envisioning an Olympic Games, with the excitement of the Olympic Games that is the cherry on the cake.

Watch every moment of Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only across Europe on Max and discovery+