The president of the IOC was visited by many outstanding personalities, only ten people. The last of them, T. Bach, was elected in 2013 and currently holds this post. This article summarizes all the IOC Presidents.
IOC as an organization
The IOC is the highest body of the Olympic movement, acting on an ongoing basis at the present time. The International Olympic Committee is a non-profit, non-governmental organization. Its headquarters is located in Switzerland (Lausanne). The charter document of this organization is the Charter of the Olympic Games, the modern version of which was adopted on July 14, 2001. English and French are the official languages of the IOC.
The International Olympic Committee was created in Paris on June 23, 1894. Pierre de Coubertin, a French educator and public figure who later became its president, initiated the creation of this committee. It was in 1894 that it was decided to revive the Olympic Games. The IOC was entrusted with the task of organizing them.
The Olympic Games (summer and winter) are held once every 4 years. The IOC decides on the timing and place of their conduct, on their program. This organization owns the exclusive right to the Olympic flag, symbol, anthem and motto. At the time of the Games, the IOC transfers the right to control the technical side of the competition to international sports federations.
According to the regulations currently in force, the IOC member is elected for a period of 8 years. He may then be re-elected for the same term. IOC Presidents are elected by its members by secret ballot. Their term of office is also 8 years. Then, powers may be renewed every 4 years. This opportunity was seized by many IOC presidents.
D. Vikelas
This man held a responsible post for a short time, from 1894 to 1896. Demetrius Vikelas is a famous writer from Greece. In 1894, he participated in the Founding Congress, held in Paris. Since the Games were to be held in Athens, the president, according to the 1st Olympic Charter, was supposed to be from Greece. It should be noted that the first president of the IOC made a significant contribution to overcoming many difficulties of a political and economic nature. The first Olympics took place in Athens in 1896. After the Games, D. Vikelas handed over the post to the next president, Pierre de Coubertin.
Pierre de Coubertin
This French baron, public figure and scientist held a responsible post for a long time, from 1896 to 1925. The modern Olympic Games, as we have said, were founded by him. At a high post, Pierre de Coubertin did a lot for the formation and development of the Olympic movement. Idealism and romanticism are qualities inherent in this person. They did not prevent him from flexibility, patience, practicality and perseverance to lead the Olympic movement through the trials and shocks of the first 30 years.
J. Lucas, an American scientist who wrote the book The Modern Olympic Games (published in 1980), noted that if you combine everything written by Pierre de Coubertin, you get a 25-volume collected works. Coubertin led the IOC for nearly 30 years. Baron Godfroix de Blonet was his closest confidant. This man served as president of the IOC in 1916-19, when Coubertin joined the French army during World War I. The second president of the IOC died in 1937. Pierre's remains lie in Lausanne. In Olympia, at the request of Coubertin, his heart is buried.
Henri de Bayeux Latour
This man served as president from 1925 to 1942. He was born in 1876 in Brussels. The Count de Bayeux Latour went in for sports, graduated from university, and then served as ambassador to the Netherlands.
Henry became a member of the IOC in 1903, and in 1905 he held the Olympic Congress in Brussels. A year later, he organized an NOC in Belgium. Henry successfully held the seventh Olympic Games in Antwerp (1920). In 1925, he was elected president of the IOC. His predecessor, Coubertin, said of him that the persistent activity of de Bayeux Latour provided significant success and excellent organization of the Olympic Congress. For 17 years, Henry headed the IOC, until his death (in 1942). Five Olympic Games were held under his leadership. The number of participants increased from 2594 to 3980, and the number of states represented by them increased from 29 to 49. The formation of the Olympic Games under it was basically completed.
It should be noted that some analysts see in the actions of de Bayeux Latour extremes of politicization of sports. This was expressed in the decision to hold the 11th Olympic Games in Berlin (in 1936). In addition, Henry refused to allow athletes from the USSR to participate in them. In his presidency, Henry was a supporter of Coubertin's principles. He said that to unite good intentions and fight against promiscuous ideas, a single doctrine should be adopted. It is necessary to publish laws common to all participants in the Games, while respecting the freedom of everyone.
J. Z. Edstrom
Over the next ten years (1942-1952), the IOC was headed by Yu.Z. Edstrom. He is considered a prominent figure in the Olympic movement, both Swedish and international. By specialty, Yunannes Siegfried Edstrom is an energy engineer. During his student years, Edstrom participated in sprint competitions, was the champion of Sweden. In 1912, on his initiative, the International Amateur Athletics Federation was created.
Edstrom became a member of the IOC in 1920, and in 1931 took the post of vice president of this organization. Further, Yunannes’s career developed as follows: after Bayeux Latour died, he became acting president, and in September 1946 Edstrom was elected president of the IOC. He held this position for six years, until 1952. The activities of Edstrom fell on a difficult post-war period. The President distinguished himself by his desire to develop the Olympic movement, to strengthen it. He tried to use it as a tool for developing cooperation and mutual understanding between peoples. Yu.Z. Edstrom resigned as president in 1952. He handed it to Avery Branding. Edstrom lived a long life. He died in the 94th year of his life, in 1964.
E. Branding
For the next 20 years, IOC’s management was in the hands of Avery Branding. He served as president from 1952 to 1972. This man was a civil engineer from America. He owned a large construction company. During his studies at the University of Avery, Brandage was seriously involved in sports. In 1912, he participated in the Olympic Games held in Stockholm. Branding is the US champion in a sport such as athletics all-around. He was also a member of the board of the IAAF.
On the recommendation of Edstrom in 1936, Avery was elected a member of the IOC. After 10 years, he took the position of first vice president. In 1952, Branding was elected president on a competitive basis (there were a total of five applicants). Over the next 20 years, Avery Brandage led the IOC.
During the cold war between the USSR and the USA, Avery patiently, actively and persistently advocated the independence of sport from politics. When Soviet troops entered Hungary in 1956 to crush the uprising against the pro-Soviet regime, a number of states decided to boycott the Games in Melbourne. Branding in response said that if every time a politician violates the law to stop the competition, we simply lose them. In 1964, following a refusal by the American authorities to grant East German athletes visas to travel to hockey competitions, Avery warned the United States that they would lose international relations if they decided to mix sport and politics.
Branding has done a lot to preserve and strengthen international sports relations. He held idealistic views, sometimes even conservative ones. Branding dogmatically followed the laws and regulations of the IOC. He shared Coubertin's ideals, which, it should be noted, were sometimes inconsistent with the processes that arose in public life at that time. Avery Brandage opposed anthem performance and flag-raising to honor the winners of the Olympic Games. He believed that this was a manifestation of nationalism. He did not like the scoring system, which determined the place of a particular national team in the overall standings at the Olympic Games. Avery believed that this was contrary to the spirit and rules of the Games, which are competitions between athletes and not between countries. The sports community, expressing their comments, respected the efficient and talented president of the IOC. In 1972, Avery handed over his post to Killanin. Branding died at the age of 98, in 1985.
Michael Maurice Killanin
Eight years spent as President M. M. Killanin. This Irish lord was engaged in rowing and boxing, and was also a great rider. He was educated at the famous Cambridge and Paris Universities. Killanin worked as a journalist, and also participated in World War II. He was an officer in the British Armed Forces. After the war, Michael Killanin held various administrative positions in industrial firms.
In 1950, he became president of the Irish NOC. In 1952, Killanin became a member of the IOC. Lord Michael Morris was appointed Executive Committee Member in 1967, and a year later became IOC Vice President. Killanin reached the top of his career in 1972. He held the post of President of the IOC until 1980.
Michael was able to find more rational types of relationships between the IOC, the NOC and the ISF - the three main links in the Olympic movement. His activities strengthened this movement. During the presidency of Killanin, there was a certain political tension that was associated with the war of the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. However, the consistent line that Michael led prevented the disruption of the 12th Olympic Games in Moscow. Michael Killanin was a proponent of a realistic policy that took into account the changes taking place in the world. He believed that the Olympic movement would become even more massive over time. For the feat committed during the Second World War, Michael was awarded the high rank of member of the Order of the British Empire. They even wanted to elect him to the post of president of the republic in his native Ireland. All over the world, this IOC President has been respected for his humanity and honesty.
Juan Antonio Samaranch
The name of this person is probably in your ears. Marquis Juan Antonio Samaranch was president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He was born in Barcelona in 1920. The future president of the IOC began sports activities as a sports adviser in his municipality. He became president of the Spanish NOC in 1962. After 4 years, H. A. Samaranch was elected a member of the IOC. From 1974 to 1978, Juan became vice president. Then, for 3 years, Samaranch worked in the USSR, where he was the Ambassador of Spain.
At the 83rd session of the IOC in Moscow in 1980, Juan Antonio was elected president of the IOC. In such a responsible post, he focused his efforts mainly on improving the efficiency of the activities carried out by the IOC. Samaranch fought to strengthen the credibility of the Olympic movement, to increase its stability. Faced with the confrontation between the USSR and the United States from the very beginning of his presidency, Juan Antonio did everything possible to prevent a boycott of the Games in Los Angeles. The flexible and skillful policy he pursued made the Olympic movement of that time more authoritative, numerous and stable. The Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and in Barcelona in 1992 were very successful. Samaranch saved the Olympic movement from external shocks. He achieved his stability, significantly strengthened his financial position and authority. An important event in history was the resolution on the Olympic truce, which was adopted at the 48th session of the UN General Assembly. 1994 was declared the year of the Olympic ideal and sport.
In Russia, the activity of Samaranch was rated very highly. On July 14, 1994, a decree of the President of the Russian Federation was signed, according to which Juan Antonio was awarded the Order of Friendship for his significant contribution to the strengthening and development of the Olympic movement around the world, for increasing its role in the struggle to maintain peace between states.
Jacques Rogge
From 2001 to 2013, the President of the IOC was Jacques Rogge. He was born in Belgium (Ganta) on May 2, 1942. Rogge is a doctor of medical sciences, an orthopedic surgeon. He worked in sports medicine. Count Jacques Rogge speaks French, Dutch, Spanish, German and English. He participated in the Olympic Games three times - in 1968, 1972 and 1976. Jacques Rogge represented his country in sailing. He is the winner of the World Cup, as well as his two-time silver medalist. Rogge 16 times became the champion of Belgium, speaking in sailing. He is also the Belgian rugby champion. Jacques spent ten matches for the national team of his country.
Since 1991 he became a member of the IOC, and since 1998 - a member of the Executive Committee. Rogge was elected President of the IOC on July 16, 2001 in Moscow. The IOC, under his leadership, sought to create maximum opportunities for developing countries to participate in the nomination of their cities as candidates for the right to host the Games. In 2008, the Games were first held in China.
Thomas bach
This person has been president of the IOC from 2013 to the present. He was born in Würzburg on December 29, 1953. Bach has a university degree in law, and is a doctor of law. From the age of five, Thomas was engaged in foil fencing. In 1971, he won the bronze medal of the World Junior Championships in this sport. In 1973, Bach won a silver medal as part of a team of foil fencers representing their country at the World Cup.
Thomas Bach, like other IOC presidents, has reached great heights in sports. He has participated in many foil fencing competitions. In 1976, he became the Olympic champion in the team competition at the Games in Montreal. Bach won the European Cup in 1978. In 1977-78, he became the champion of Germany in the individual championship.
In 1982-91 Bach was a member of the German NOC. He became a member of the IOC in 1991, and five years later he was elected to the IOC Executive Board. Three times Thomas Bach was IOC Vice-President: in 2000-04, 2006-10 and in 2010-13. In 2013, at the age of 59, Thomas was elected president of the IOC. He became the first German, as well as the first Olympic champion to take this post.