LAUSANNE: Inter­national Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach on Wednesday said he had no fears that Brazil’s World Cup humiliation would sour the atmosphere ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio.

“I don’t think so,” Bach told reporters when asked if Brazilians would turn against the Olympics in the wake of their failed World Cup campaign which saw them suffer an historic 7-1 thrashing by Germany in the semi-finals.

The German said that he had personal experience of how people rebound from a loss, recalling his homeland’s last-gasp 2-0 loss to Italy in the 2006 World Cup semi-finals on home turf.

Former Olympic fencing champion Bach was a member of the organising committee of the 2006 tournament, and saw Germany exit after back-to-back Italian goals just before the final whistle.

“There, it was even more dramatic, it was in the very last minute of extra time, so the disappointment was very sudden and very big. Then you have a day of mourning,” he said.

“I can full understand that today in Brazil there will be this day of mourning, but the Brazilians are very optimistic people and they know that after each defeat there is a new victory waiting for you. I’m sure they will grasp this opportunity,” he added.

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Bach spoke after a three-day meeting of the IOC’s exe­cutive board, which included a session on Rio’s preparations, at the Olympic body’s headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne.

Published in Dawn, July 10th , 2014