Jacques Rogge, former president of the International Olympic Committee, died at 79

Europe 1 with AFP 6:51 p.m., August 29, 2021, modified at 6:51 p.m., August 29, 2021

Belgian Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) from 2001 to 2013, died at the age of 79, the instance announced on Sunday.

"It is with great sadness that the International Olympic Committee announces the death of its former president Jacques Rogge. He was 79 years old," said the IOC in its press release.

"Jacques was above all a sports enthusiast who liked to be in contact with athletes, a passion that he passed on to all those who knew him. His joy in sport was communicative", recalled Thomas Bach, quoted in the press release. 

The fight against doping

Elected in 2001, after 21 years of Samaranch's reign in Lausanne, the eighth president of the body then inherited an institution undermined by suspicions of nepotism and corruption. The first Games of his mandate are just as sulphurous: Salt Lake City is accused of having paid bribes to the IOC to obtain the organization of the 2002 Winter Olympics, after several unsuccessful candidacies. Worse, on the doping front, seven positive cases (including three gold medalists) are recorded during these Olympics, while there were only five between 1924 and 1998.

Immersed from the start in the storm, the former skipper (three participations in the Olympic Games in 1968, 1972 and 1976) chose a clear course. "The fight against doping can be summed up in two words: zero tolerance", he summarized in 2009. And in fact, under the leadership of Rogge, the controls will multiply in the weeks preceding the Olympics. The president resolutely emphasizes prevention rather than repression. "He was an accomplished President who helped modernize and transform the IOC. He will be remembered especially for encouraging the practice of sport among young people and for creating the Youth Olympic Games. He was also a strong advocate clean sport and he fought tirelessly against the scourge of doping ", recalled the current IOC President.

"A great friend and a sports enthusiast"

In addition to his fight against doping, the knight Rogge (who will be made count in 2002) sets out to attack the gigantism of the Games.

To avoid reliving the Salt Lake City scandal, the Belgian is reforming the system for awarding the Olympic Games to candidate cities, with the aim of moving towards greater transparency.

The Olympic program is limited, at its initiative, to 28 disciplines and 10,500 athletes.

The IOC President, re-elected without opposition in 2009, will work closely with athletes during the Games, choosing to take up residence in the Olympic Village rather than at the hotel, in order to "fully experience" the biennial high mass.

When he leaves the IOC at the end of his second term, the former orthopedic surgeon remains faithful to his tradition of discretion, anxious not "to play the stepmother of (his) successor." In fact, apart from a few official ceremonies, or a jump to Pyeongchang, South Korea, to encourage the Belgian delegation to the Winter Olympics in 2018, Rogge is rare. "If I enjoyed it? Not always. Was it exciting? Definitely," he summed up when handing over the keys to the IOC. “The entire Olympic movement mourns the loss of a great friend and sports enthusiast,” Bach concluded.