Thomas Bach

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As the Rio Games begin, who is Thomas Bach? He holds a gold medal in fencing and is now arguably the most important man in the world of the Olympics. As President of the International Olympic Committee, in the past couple of weeks Thomas Bach has been surrounded by controversy over a decision to allow Russian athletes to compete in Rio or not. Mark Coles speaks to those who have known him throughout his career as well as to an old fencing opponent. "His style wasn't elegant", he says, "but it was effective".