Archives | 20 Apr 2010
Former IOC President Juan Antonio SAMARANCH dead at 89
21/04/2010 – Juan Antonio SAMARANCH, the 89-year-old former President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has died at the age of 89, at the Barcelona hospital where he was being treated said on Wednesday. Spaniard SAMARANCH, who was made t
21/04/2010 – Juan Antonio SAMARANCH, the 89-year-old former President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), has died at the age of 89, at the Barcelona hospital where he was being treated said on Wednesday.
Spaniard SAMARANCH, who was made the IOC’s honorary life president when he stepped down in 2001, was admitted to the Quiron hospital on Sunday with acute heart problems and passed away at 13:25 local time , the hospital said.
“I cannot find the words to express the distress of the Olympic Family – IOC president Jacques Rogge said. We have lost a great man, a mentor and a friend who dedicated his long and fulfilled life to the Olympics.”
SAMARANCH, ran the IOC with absolute authority for two decades and Barcelona’s successful bid to host the1992 Olympics was seen as his personal triumph. He stepped down in July 2001, 21 years after he had been elected as the IOC’s seventh president, and was made life president when he handed power to ROGGE.
(by Reuters)
Photo: Juan Antonio SAMARANCH