The International Olympic Committee says Jacques Rogge, who led the organization as president for 12 years, has died. He was 79.
The International Olympic Committee announced his death without giving details. Rogge’s health had visibly declined when he attended Olympic events since his presidency ended in 2013.
He managed a steady growth in IOC revenues, even during the global economic crisis; made peace with the U.S. Olympic Committee after years of bitter squabbling over money-sharing; and — in what he considered his personal legacy — created the Youth Olympics.Under Rogge’s watch, the IOC took the Olympics to new countries and continents — awarding the first Summer Games to South America and the first Winter Games to Russia and South Korea .
“He was absolutely the right person at the right time,” Norwegian IOC member Gerhard Heiberg said. “We had a lot of turmoil. We had to get out of that. We had to get another image. He brought stability to the organization.” Rogge spoke five languages, a big selling point in the multi-lingual IOC. His native tongue was Flemish or Dutch, but he also spoke French, English, Spanish and German.
Rogge said the darkest moment of his presidency was the death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili, who was killed in a high-speed training crash hours before the 2010 opening ceremony in Vancouver. Rogge came under fire from Jewish groups for refusing to allow a moment of silence at the London opening ceremony to remember the 11 Israeli team members killed by Palestinian gunmen at the 1972 Munich Games. He did take part in special commemorations for the Israelis outside of the ceremonies.
The IOC’s financial security strengthened under Rogge’s tenure. Revenues from global sponsors grew from $663 million in 2001-04 to nearly $1 billion for the four-year cycle through London. Television rights deals raised billions, including a $4.38 billion deal with NBC through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The IOC’s reserves rose from $100 million to $900 million over 10 years.
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