On August 30, Beijing time, a day of heartbreak for sports fans around the world, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the former President of the International Olympic Committee, Count Jacques Rogge, had passed away at the age of 79.
Logue is the eighth president in the history of the IOC, and from succeeding Samaranch as IOC president in 2001 until his official resignation in 2013, Logue served as president of the IOC for 12 years, and after his term expired, he also served as honorary president. Commenting on Rogge's death, the current president of the International Olympic Committee, Bach, said, "The entire Olympic movement mourns the loss of a great friend and a passionate sports fan. ”
Not only is the president of the Olympic Committee "complete in both culture and martial arts", he has not slept once in 12 years
In addition to the well-known status of the former Olympic president, Logue also has multiple identities. Born in Ghent, Belgium in 1942, Logue was a member of the Belgian rugby team at a young age, won the Belgian League championship, was selected for the Belgian national rugby team 10 times, won one world championship in sailing, two world runners-up, 16 Belgian champions, participated in three Olympic Games in 1968, 1972 and 1976, and served as the Olympic torchbearer for Athens in 2004.
In addition to showing superb athletic talent, Logue is also an excellent surgeon, obtained a doctorate in medicine, proficient in Dutch, French, English, German, Spanish and other languages, and has a special love for modern art, which can be said to be "both literary and martial arts".
After serving as President of the European Olympic Committee, Member of the IOC and Executive Committee, in July 2001 he succeeded Samaranch as the eighth President of the IOC, before he was 60 years old.
Logue (left) image from Osports
After Logue's death, Bach reminisced about his life. Bach said, "Jacques loves sports and loves to be with athletes, he has passed this enthusiasm on to everyone who knows him, and his love of sports is infectious." ”
"He is an accomplished president who has helped modernize and transform the IOC," Bach said. He won the Youth Sports Championship and inaugurated the Youth Olympic Games. He also strongly advocated for sports integrity and worked tirelessly to fight the evil of doping. ”
The news also revealed that in order to pay tribute to Bach, the Olympic Building, the Olympic Museum and all the territories of the International Olympic Committee will be lowered to half-mast for five consecutive days. At the same time, the IOC also invites the Olympic Committees of all countries (and regions) and international sports federations to join in this gesture of commemoration and tribute.
Finally, the news said that after a private family ceremony, a public memorial service for Logue will be held later in 2021, when "members and friends of the Olympic Movement will be able to remember his life and his great contribution to sport." ”
Earlier, looking back on his 12-year tenure, Logue had said: "I can leave without regrets." He joked, "The only thing missing is that I have not been able to rest on time and have not been able to sleep lazily." ”
Logue (third from left) comes from Osports
Anti-corruption, doping, Olympic slimming, youth Olympic Games, drastic reforms
The president of the International Olympic Committee seems to be the first person in the international sports world to have power, but it is indeed a job that is "difficult and not necessarily flattering", and worrying, not being understood, and not being paid is the daily work of the president of the International Olympic Committee.
At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, logue changed the habit of the former Olympic Committee members to live in hotels outside the Olympic Village, and he became the first president to live in the Olympic Village with all the athletes, and maintained this habit until the 2012 London Olympic Games.
As the first president of the IOC in the 21st century, Logue was not yet 60 years old when he took over the staff of the IOC president from Samaranch. Logue, who has demonstrated strong executive ability at the beginning of his tenure, has said that he will continue to lead the Olympic Movement in the right direction, and he believes that reasonable control of the scale of the Olympic Games and the opportunity for more cities to host the Olympic Games are the future trend of the Olympic Movement. During his term of office, he carried out drastic reforms and made many breakthroughs.
The first is to bravely reform the corruption practices within the IOC, including bribery when the Sydney Olympics were hosted in 2000 and the bribery scandal in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics bid. The terms of office of IOC members and presidents have been drastically shortened, and he has taken the lead in defining the term of office of the president as a four-year term after the first election for eight years.
IOC 131st Plenum, Logue (right) Image from Xinhua News Agency
After the 1984 Olympic Games began commercial operations, more and more projects began to enter the Olympic Games, the scale of the Olympic Games is also getting larger and larger, in the face of the gradual expansion of the Scale of the Olympic Games, he advocates that the Olympic Games should be limited to a certain scale rather than unlimited expansion to reduce the pressure on the host country, he suggested that "the total number of athletes participating in the Summer Olympic Games should not exceed 10,500 people, and the number of competition items should also be controlled at 28." In July 2003, at the initiative of Logue, the 115th Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee formally approved the World Anti-Doping Regulations, which imposed severe penalties on athletes who abuse doping, and also promoted the review of doping test samples for 8 years to maximize the fairness of the Olympic Games.
In addition to treating the ills of the commercialization of the Olympic Games, another of Logue's most praised achievements is the creation of the Youth Olympic Games, passing on the Olympic spirit to the next generation. In 2010, the IOC Singapore founded the first Youth Olympic Games, and in 2012 it hosted the first Youth Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria. Julian, director of the sports department of the famous Argentine TV station TN Channel, commented: "In my opinion, Logue's greatest contribution is to make the Olympic Games really go global. He founded the Youth Olympic Games, vigorously promoted the Winter Olympic Games, and was committed to allowing more countries to participate in the Olympic family. He made the Olympic Games no longer just a matter of a few countries competing for a few medals, but a truly universal sporting event. ”
In addition, Logue was financially successful, with the IOC receiving $663 million in revenue from sponsors at the end of 2001, leaving $105 million on books that year.
Thanks to his excellent work in all aspects, Logue has established great prestige in the IOC. On 9 October 2009, when he sought re-election, only one of the 89 valid votes cast by IOC members was against.
In November 2014, the IOC awarded Logue the Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of his contributions. He was also conferred the title of Earl by King Albert II of Belgium.
There has always been a special "Chinese love affair, and the favorite athlete is Liu Xiang."
For Chinese people, Logue has always been an eternal old friend of China and a warm presence. At the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, Du Li won the first gold medal of the Olympic Games, and Logue presented Du Li with an award, which was the first Olympic gold medal awarded after he became the president of the International Olympic Committee, and he awarded it to Chinese athletes.
The friendship between Logue and China began very early, he first came to China as early as 1987, and then came to China many times because of the Beijing Olympic Games, and formed a deep relationship with China. When he first took office, he repeatedly expressed his support for the Beijing Olympics, when an American reporter asked Logue why the 2008 Olympics were handed over to Beijing. Logue replied directly and "willfully", "The IOC just wants the world's most populous country to host the Olympic Games." Four months after he was elected president of the International Olympic Committee in 2001, he also said at the opening ceremony of the Guangzhou Nine Games, "Now we know that there is one thing we don't need to worry about, and it is right to choose China for the 2008 Olympic Games." "There are 1.3 billion people in China, and I have 1.3 billion good reasons to choose Beijing." "In the history of the Olympic Games, Beijing will definitely leave its own traces."
In August 2003, after the release of the emblem of the Beijing Olympic Games, after seeing the design of "Beijing where China's Indian and Dancing" was launched, Logue praised "the new emblem directly expresses the amazing beauty and strength of China". He predicted at the time: "The Beijing Olympic Games will become the best in history." ”
Even in February 2008, when renowned director Steven Spielberg abruptly announced his resignation as an artistic adviser to the Beijing Olympics on the grounds that he believed China had not done enough to end the violence in Darfur, Sudan, and that "my conscience would not allow me to continue to work as usual," Logue sided with China and was confident in the hosting of the Beijing Olympics, saying: "His absence will not affect the quality of the Olympic Games, and the Beijing Olympics are much more powerful than any individual." ”
At 8 p.m. on August 8, 2008, the opening time of the Beijing Olympic Games, Logue liked it, "8 is an auspicious number in China, I am the 8th president of the International Olympic Committee, and I believe it will also bring good luck to the Chinese people." ”
Logue is a master of languages, proficient in 6 languages, during the Beijing Olympic Games, he learned Chinese very quickly, the best sentence - Beijing welcomes you!
At the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games, Logue abandoned the best (best) phrase that has been followed for many years, and used the expression Of Exceptional Games (truly unparalleled)! At the closing ceremony, he declared to the world: "The Beijing Olympic Games are a truly unparalleled Olympic Games. His remarks also inspired all the sons and daughters of China.
Logue said at the time, "It is obvious that China has raised the standards of the Olympic Games very high, so it is a great challenge for London, and it is also a great challenge for London's future Olympic Games." ”
Logue also said that the Beijing Olympics left a large amount of material and intangible heritage. From the construction of venues and the improvement of infrastructure to the vigorous development of the sports industry, everything will bring new opportunities to China.
Not only the Olympic Games, but also the 2001 Ninth Games, the 2005 10th Games and the 2009 11th Games, Logue's attendance for three consecutive years is also a great encouragement to the Chinese people.
For the representatives of Chinese sports, Logue is also quite familiar, after the Beijing Olympic Games, the Belgian once said: "The performance of many athletes such as Guo Jingjing, Liu Zige, Yang Wei, Li Xiaopeng and so on in China is amazing, of course, among these outstanding athletes, I like Liu Xiang very much, and his breakthrough in athletics has made him almost a symbol of Chinese sports for a long time." ”
Whether in office or behind the scenes, Logue has always had a special "Chinese love" in his heart, Logue has been to many cities in China, Xi'an, Beijing, Nanjing have left his figure, China's broad and profound culture has also left a deep impression on Logue, "What impressed me most about China is that its culture is too colorful and the style is very different." After stepping down as president of the International Olympic Committee, Logue has also traveled to China many times, and he also received an honorary doctorate from Beijing Sport University.
After learning the news of his death, the topic of "the death of former Olympic Committee President Logue" rushed to Weibo hot search, and many stars also expressed their sadness about Logue's death, and Lin Miaoke, who performed at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, also sent a microblog to mourn Logue.
And many netizens are very sad to say, "Samaranch and Mr. Logue are my Olympic youth memories, they are gone, but also on behalf of my youth." "Chinese good friend of the people, go all the way."
Jimu news reporter Lin Chuhan comprehensive report
(Image courtesy of Xinhua News Agency, Olympic Games Weibo, Osports)
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