The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session is held at least once a year, often over a two or three-day period. In the years when the Olympic Games take place, the IOC Session traditionally precedes them.
This year, the 141st session is being held in Mumbai, the second time it’s being held in India after the New Delhi session in 1983.
The IOC session is the supreme decision-making body of the Olympic movement. It discusses and decides on the key activities of the global Olympics movement, including adoption or amendment of the Olympic Charter, election of IOC members and office-bearers and election of the host city of Olympics.
Here’s a look at some decisions taken by the IOC session over the last years:
138th IOC Session, Tokyo, July 2021
- Election of Brisbane as host of the XXXVI Olympic Games in 2032;
- Election of two IOC Honorary Members: Sir Craig Reedie and HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.
- Election of Nicole Hoevertsz as IOC Vice-President; and Mrs Kristin Kloster (IOC Member in Norway) was newly elected to the Board.
137th IOC Session, Lausanne (online), March 2021
- Election of the IOC President Thomas Bach for another term of office;
- Approval of the Closing Report of Olympic Agenda 2020;
- Approval of Olympic Agenda 2020+5, the strategic roadmap for the IOC and the Olympic Movement to 2025.
136th IOC Session, Lausanne (online), July 2020
- Approval of the 2019 IOC Annual Report and Audited Accounts;
- The IOC Session approved amendments to the Olympic Charter;
- Senegal and the IOC agree to postpone the Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2022 to 2026;
- Election of five new IOC Members: Maria de la Caridad Colon Ruenes, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic, Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Battushig Batbold, and Sebastian Coe.
135th IOC Session, Lausanne, January 2020
- Election of Gangwon as host of the fourth Youth Olympic Winter Games in 2024;
- Election of three new IOC Members: Yasuhiro Yamashita, David Haggerty, and Gianni Infantino. 134th IOC Session, Lausanne, June 2019
- Election of Milano Cortina as host of the XXV Olympic Winter Games in 2026;
- Election of ten new IOC Members: Odette Assembe Engoulou, Filomena Fortes, Matlohang MoiloaRamoqopo, Tidjane Thiam, Laura Chinchilla, Erick Thohir, Spyros Capralos, Mustapha Berraf, Narinder Dhruv Batra, and Kee Heung Lee.
133rd IOC Session, Buenos Aires, October 2018
- Election of Dakar as host of the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games;
- Election of nine new IOC Members: Giovanni Malago, Felicite Rwemarika, Camilo Perez Lopez Moreira, Daina Gudzineviciute, Samira Asghari, HRH Prince Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck, William Frederick Blick, Morinari Watanabe, and Andrew Parsons.
132nd IOC Session, PyeongChang, February 2018
- The date of the fourth Summer Youth Olympic Games was reverted from 2023 to 2022;
- Election of one new IOC Member: Jiri Kejval;
- Election of three new members of the IOC Ethics Committee: Danka Bartekova, Pierre Olivier Beckers, and Auvita Rapilla.
IOC Session Lima, September 2017
- Election of Paris as host of the XXXIII Olympic Games in 2024;
- Election of Los Angeles as host of the XXXIV Olympic Games in 2028;
- Election of eight new IOC Members: Baklai Temengil, Kristin Kloster Aasen, Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, Luis Mejia Oviedo, Neven Ivan Ilic Alvarez, Khalid Muhammad Al Zubair, Jean-Christophe Rolland, and Ingmar de Vos.
130th IOC Session, Lausanne, July 2017
- The IOC Session unanimously agreed in principle to award both the Olympic Games 2024 and 2028 simultaneously in Lima, paving the way for a “win-win” situation for the Olympic Movement, Los Angeles and Paris.
129th IOC Session, Rio de Janeiro, July 2016
- Decision on the new sports added to the Olympic programme for the Games of the Olympiad Tokyo 2020;
- Election of eight new IOC Members: Nita Ambani, Sari Essayah, Ivo Ferriani, Luis Moreno, Auvita Rapilla, Anant Singh, Tricia Smith, and Karl Stoss.
128th IOC Session, Kuala Lumpur, July 2015
- Election of Beijing as host of the XXIV Olympic Winter Games in 2022;
- Election of Lausanne as host of the third Youth Olympic Winter Games in 2020;
- Full recognition granted to the NOC of South Sudan;
- Election of two new IOC Members: Mamadou Diagna Ndiaye and Nenad Lalovic.
127th IOC Session, Monaco, December 2014
- Unanimous approval of the 40 recommendations that make up Olympic Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement;
- Full recognition granted to the NOC of Kosovo;
- Election of the city of Lima (Peru) to host the 130th IOC Session in 2017;
- Election of Jean-Claude Killy, Raja Randhir Singh, HRH Prince Nawaf Faisal Fahd Abdulaziz, Leo Wallner and Meliton Sanchez Rivas as IOC Honorary Member;
- Approval of the planned consolidation of the IOC headquarters.
126th IOC Session, Sochi, February 2014
- Election of Zaiqing Yu as IOC Vice-President (position that became available following the election of Thomas Bach as IOC President) and Ugur Erdener to the IOC EB (the mandate of Sam Ramsamy coming to an end);
- Election of a new IOC Member: Poul-Erik Hoyer;
- Re-election of three IOC Members: Beatrice Allen, Nicole Hoevertsz and HRH Prince Tunku Imran.
125th IOC Session, Buenos Aires, September 2013
- Election of Thomas Bach as the new IOC President;
- Jacques Rogge nominated as IOC Honorary President;
- Election of Tokyo as host of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020;
- Election of John Coates as a new IOC vice-president;
- Election of Anita L. DeFrantz to the IOC EB;
- Election of nine new IOC Members: Octavian Morariu, Bernard Rajzman, Mikaela Maria Antonia Cojuangco-Jaworski, Alexander Zhukov, Paul Kibii Tergat, Lawrence Probst III, Dagmawit Girmay Berhane, Camiel Eurlings, Stefan Holm;
- Kevan Gosper and Lamine Diack were appointed to become IOC honorary members;
- Wrestling was elected in the programme for the Olympic Games of 2020 and 2024.
Extraordinary IOC Session, Lausanne July 2013
- Election of Buenos Aires as host of the third Youth Olympic Games in 2018;
- Election of four new IOC Members: Danka Bartekova, James Tomkins, Kirsty Coventry and Tony Estanguet (members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission).
124th IOC Session, London, July 2012
- Election of five new IOC Members: Aisha Garad Ali, Pierre-Olivier Beckers, Tsunekazu Takeda, Frank Fredericks, and Lingwei Li;
- Election of Nawal El Moutawakel and Craig Reedie as IOC Vice-Presidents;
- Three new IOC Members elected to the IOC EB: Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., Sergey Bubka and Willi Kaltschmitt Lujan;
- Ching-Kuo Wu (ASOIF), René Fasel (re-elected, AIOWF), Patrick Hickey (ANOC), Claudia Bokel (Chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission) were elected or reelected to the IOC EB due to their functions;
- Election of three IOC Honorary Members: Francisco Elizalde, Alpha Ibrahim Diallo and Carlos Nuzman.