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{{commonscat|Juan Antonio Samaranch}}
{{commonscat|Juan Antonio Samaranch}}
* [http://www.ifbb.com/reports/JuanAntonioSamaranch.htm Juan Antonio Samaranch and Olympism]
* [http://www.ifbb.com/reports/JuanAntonioSamaranch.htm Juan Antonio Samaranch and Olympism]
* [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/7614484/Juan-Antonio-Samaranch.html Juan Antonio Samaranch] - Daily Telegraph obituary
* [http://www.transparencyinsport.org/samaranch.html Page on Samaranch's links to the Franco regime] by [[Andrew Jennings]]
* [http://www.transparencyinsport.org/samaranch.html Page on Samaranch's links to the Franco regime] by [[Andrew Jennings]]
* {{imdb name|id=1347360}}
* {{imdb name|id=1347360}}

Revision as of 12:32, 22 April 2010

Juan Antonio Samaranch
Samaranch at the 2000 Summer Olympics
7th President of the International Olympic Committee
In office
16 July 1980 – 16 July 2001
Preceded byLord Killanin
Succeeded byJacques Rogge
Personal details
Born(1920-07-17)17 July 1920
Barcelona, Spain
Died21 April 2010(2010-04-21) (aged 89)
Barcelona, Spain
SpouseMaria Teresa Salisachs Rowe (1955–2000; her death)
ChildrenJuan Antonio, Maria Teresa
Residence(s)Barcelona, Spain
Alma materIESE
OccupationSports administrator, diplomat

Template:Spanish name Juan Antonio Samaranch Torelló, 1st Marquess of Samaranch (17 July 1920 – 21 April 2010) was a Spanish sports official who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 1980 to 2001.[1][2][3]

Early life

Samaranch was born into a wealthy family in Barcelona. As a child, he was a keen roller hockey player.[4] During the Spanish Civil War, he was conscripted into the Republican forces in 1938, at the age of 18, to serve as a medical orderly. However, he was politically opposed to the Republic, and escaped to France. He quickly returned to Nationalist Spain and enrolled in the Falange.[5]

Business and political career

After the defeat of the Republic in 1939, Samaranch studied commerce at IESE Business School in Barcelona. He had a short career as a sports journalist for La Prensa, which ended in his dismissal in 1943 for criticizing the supporters of Real Madrid C.F. after that club's 11–1 defeat of FC Barcelona, and then joined his family's textile business. He joined the board of La Caixa, Spain's largest savings bank, in 1984, and served as President of the board from 1987 to 1999. He remained as honorary president from his retirement in 1999 to his death.[5]

Samaranch served on the municipal government of Barcelona, with responsibility for sports, from 1955 to 1962. He was a procurador (member of the lower house) of the Cortes Españolas during the last decade of the Franco regime, from 1967 until the restoration of democracy in 1977. From 1967 to 1971, he also served as "national delegate" (minister) for sports, and from 1973 to 1977 he was the president of the diputación (governing council) of the Province of Barcelona. He was appointed Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union and Mongolia in 1977, immediately after the restoration of diplomatic relations between the countries: this post helped him to gain the support of the Soviet bloc countries in the election to the presidency of the IOC, held in Moscow in 1980.[5]

He had been the chef de mission of the Spanish team at a number of Olympic events, before he was appointed Government Secretary for Sports by Spanish Head of State Francisco Franco in 1967 He also became the president of the Spanish National Olympic Committee and a member of the IOC. He was vice-president of the IOC from 1974 to 1978.

IOC Presidency

Samaranch was elected President of the IOC at the 83rd IOC Session, held in Moscow prior to the 1980 Summer Olympics – between 15 July and 18 July 1980.[6]

During his term, Samaranch made the Olympic Games financially healthy, with big television deals and sponsorships. Although the 1984 Summer Olympics were still boycotted by the Soviet bloc, the number of IOC participating member nations increased at every Games during Samaranch's presidency. Samaranch also wanted the best athletes to compete in the Olympics, which led to the gradual acceptance of professional athletes.

One achievement of Samaranch was the financial rescue of the IOC, which was in financial crisis in the 1970s. The games themselves were such a burden on host cities that it appeared that no host would be found for future Olympiads. Under Samaranch, the IOC revamped its sponsorship arrangements (choosing to go with global sponsors rather than allowing each national federation to take local ones), and new broadcasting deals, commercialising the Olympics and making them more economically viable.[7]

It became a tradition for Samaranch, when giving the President's address at the close of each Summer Olympics, to praise the organizers at each Olympiad for putting on "the best ever" Games. He withheld this phrase only once, at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta[8] where the organization had come under heavy criticism.[9]

In 2001, Samaranch did not apply for the presidency again. He was succeeded by Jacques Rogge. He then became Honorary President for Life of the International Olympic Committee. Samaranch served second the longest term as the head of the IOC, 21 years, the longest being that of Pierre de Coubertin (29 years). Following his retirement, Samaranch played a major role in Madrid's bid for the 2012 and 2016 Olympics, though both were unsuccessful. In 1991 he was given the title of Marqués de Samaranch by King Juan Carlos of Spain in recognition of his contribution to the Olympic movement.[7]

Criticism

Besides his accommodation, he was criticised for several scandals and instances of corruption that he was not involved with and were committed by other people that occurred within the IOC during his tenure as president. In the aftermath of a bribery scandal surrounding the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah, an inquiry held in camera expelled several IOC members, but cleared Samaranch of wrongdoing. Samaranch set up a commission to investigate the corruption and introduced reform of the bid process as a result of the scandal.[7]

Samaranch was also accused of not taking the problem of performance-enhancing drugs seriously enough.[7]

Family

Samaranch married Maria Teresa Salisachs Rowe, known as "Bibí" (26 December 1931 – 16 September 2000), on 1 December 1955. Two children were born of this marriage; his son, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2001, while his daughter, Maria Teresa Samaranch Salisachs, has been president of the Spanish Federation of Sports on Ice since 2005.[5]

Death

Wikinews has related news:

Samaranch died of cardio-respiratory failure in the Hospital Quirón in Barcelona on 21 April 2010, having suffered ill health for several years prior to his death.[10]

As a recipient of the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Samaranch was laid in state in the Palau de la Generalitat. His funeral mass was in the Cathedral of Santa Eulalia, on 22 April 2010.[10][11]

See also

References

  1. ^ Obituary London Times, 22 April 2010.
  2. ^ Obituary London Guardian, 22 April 2010.
  3. ^ Obituary London Independent, 22 April 2010.
  4. ^ IAAF mourns the passing of Juan Antonio Samaranch IAAF.org. 21 April 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d "La larga carrera de un hombre polifacético", El País, 21 April 2010. Template:Es icon
  6. ^ Olympic Review, N154, August 1980, pp. 410–412, available online
  7. ^ a b c d "Ex-Olympic chief Juan Antonio Samaranch dies". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 21 April 2010. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  8. ^ Kuper, Simon (29 September 2007). "Beijing strikes gold in the propaganda Olympics". Financial Times. p. 10.
  9. ^ "The Coca Cola Olympics". Irish Times. 5 August 1996. p. 15.
  10. ^ a b "Juan Antonio Samaranch mor a Barcelona", El Periódico de Catalunya, 21 April 2010.
  11. ^ "Los Reyes y las Infantas acudirán al funeral de Samaranch", ABC, 21 April 2010. Template:Es icon
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Civic offices
Preceded by President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
1980–2001 		Succeeded by

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Template:Olympic box end

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