A festival of celebrations took place in the Italian capital to mark the 100th anniversary with the main events taking place at the Olympic Park in Rome, the Foro Italico, where CONI's headquarters are based.

Bach was among a host of dignitaries from across the Olympic Movement invited to attend the special occasion by CONI President Giovanni Malagò, including head of the European Olympic Committees (EOC) Patrick Hickey, along with Italian President Giorgio Napolitano.

In an address to those gathered at the Foro Italico, including several of Italy's Olympic champions, Bach paid tribute to those Italian athletes that have impressed on the biggest stage.

Among those picked out were double gold medal-winning bobsledder Eugenio Monti, awarded the first ever Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship after lending British pair Tony Nash and Robin Dixon a bolt from his sled during the 1964 Winter Games in Innsbruck, leading to them claiming the gold medal ahead of Monti and teammate Sergio Siorpaes.

Thomas Bach told the crowd gathered in Rome that CONI is a benchmark for National Olympic Committees around the world ©CONI



Bach, winner of a fencing gold at Montreal 1976, also made a special mention of Italian fencer Eduardo Mangiarotti,  who won six Olympic titles during his career, including gold in the team epee event in Rome in 1960.

"For me my very first Olympic memories started here in Rome," he said.

"I can clearly remember the Games of 1960 and some of the great champions it produced.

" But perhaps just as striking to me as a young boy was the powerful and impressive backdrop of this great city of yours.

"Those Games confirmed not only that CONI and Italian sport are great organisers but also warm hosts.

"At CONI you know how to combine the warmth and hospitality for which Italians are rightly famous with a clinical efficiency in organisation.

"It is a formidable and winning combination.

"Indeed, CONI has become the benchmark for many, many NOCs and sporting organisations around the world.

"We have all learnt a lot from Italian sport organisation and for this we must all be grateful.

"CONI stands out in the Olympic Movement because it is an organisation that looks with pride on the past and with confidence toward the future.

"On behalf of the Olympic Movement I would like to congratulate CONI and indeed Italy for the unique contribution you have made to the whole Olympic Movement worldwide.

"Together we tonight celebrate 100 glorious years of hospitality, of passion of excellence."

Rome's Olympic Stadium was the main venue for the 1960 Games in the Italian capital ©Hulton Archive/Getty Images



Bach also claimed Rome could still have a major part to play if it bids for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.

"Perhaps together we might still see here in Rome one more chapter to be written in the
Olympic story of this formidable organisation," he said.

Malagò has claimed Rome would represent a "strong" candidate for the Games but its bid has yet to get the full backing of the Italian Government led by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi.

The doors to Foro Italico, which hosted many of the events during the Rome 1960 Olympic Games, were thrown open to the public allowing thousands to come in and visit the Park and try out a range of sports and disciplines.

CONI was established in 1914 under the guidance of inaugural President Charles de Compans Brichanteau.

Former CONI Presidents Franco Carraro, Mario Pescante and Giovanni Petrucci were also present at Foro Italico this evening.

In his speech, Malagò paid particular tribute to Giulio Onesti, who took over the Presidency of CONI following the Second World War and helped to secure the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the Rome Games in 1960 during his reign.

CONI centenary celebrations in Rome saw a host of dignitaries from the Olympic Movement and past and present champions gather at Foro Italico ©CONI



"It is right to recall that, if we are here today to celebrate our first hundred years, we owe it to Giulio Onesti who, in an historic moment for our country, with Italy still wounded by World War Two,, found the strength, the courage and the capacity to launch anew an entity that should have been liquidated but which he instead rebuilt and made credible to the eyes of the international community," said Malagò.

"In these hundred years Italy has won for itself on the field of play unquestionable prestige, which is recognised us at all levels and that transforms itself into esteem and consideration at home from both the Governments and the Parliaments that have succeeded each other in our Republic.

"With this celebration we want to underline also the close relationship that CONI has kept over time with art and culture recognising merit to those who have wanted to exalt the merits of sport.

"The area of the Foro Italico where we daily work is testimony to the strong ties we have with the city of Rome."

In addition to the centenary celebrations, Alpine skier Alberta Tomba and high jumper Sara Simeoni were presented with the 2014 Onesti Award, named after the former President who held the role from 1946 to 1978.

Tomba is a three-time Olympic gold medallist and double world champion, while former world record holder Simeoni claimed Olympic gold at the Moscow 1980 Games.

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