Rugby roots

Jacques Rogge will remain as IOC President until 2013

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge has been re-elected for another and final four-year term. At the IOC session in Copenhagen, the current eighth head of this sports organization was the only contender for the position. Rogge was supported by 88 of the 89 IOC members. Thus, the 67-year-old Belgian will remain in the IOC presidency until 2013.

In 2001, Jacques Rogge replaced the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch. Rogge's election program was consistent and tough. Rogge advocated anti-corruption measures, the fight against doping, a revision of the Olympic program, openness of the IOC policy and the development of youth sports. He followed the chosen course for eight years. In addition, Rogge became the most democratic president of this international organization. It was Rogge who was the first IOC head to decide to be closer to the athletes and at the Olympic Games chose to live not in fashionable apartments, but in the Olympic Village.

Jacques Rogge was born on May 2, 1942 in Ghent. He is an orthopedic surgeon by profession and has a scientific degree in sports medicine. He began his career in sports as a rugby player and even played ten matches for the Belgian national team. However, then he switched to yachting. Rogge participated three times in the Olympic Games regattas (Mexico City 1968, Munich 1972, Montreal 1976) as a member of the Finn class sailing team. He is a world champion in sailing, a two-time vice-champion, a 16-time Belgian champion, and a Belgian rugby champion. From 1989 to 1992, Rogge was president of the Belgian National Olympic Committee. In 1989 he became president of the European Olympic Committee and vice-president of the Association of National Olympic Committees. In 1990, he was included in the Olympic Movement Commission and the Olympic Solidarity Commission. In 1991, Jacques Rogge joined the International Olympic Committee, the working group for the development of the Olympic program and the IOC medical commission. For five years, the Belgian was chairman of the coordination commission for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and headed a similar commission for the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In 1998, Rogge was elected a member of the IOC Executive Committee, and on July 16, 2001, he headed this organization. Jacques Rogge is married and has two children.

Commenting on his re-election, Rogge said there was a lot of work ahead. “The last Olympic Congress made many interesting recommendations, and now we need to focus on putting them into practice. Singapore will host the first Youth Olympic Games next year, followed by the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012 in Innsbruck. I believe that the introduction of the Youth Olympics is the legacy that we will leave behind to world sports. We will continue to work to protect the rights of athletes and work to combat doping in sports. We will create an independent body to combat black betting and contractual results. We stand for the rapprochement of the developed and developing worlds, for the promotion of equality between men and women. Every person in the world, regardless of gender or background, should have equal opportunities. And sport is a unique, universal tool, attractive to all humanity,” Rogge said.

Over the past eight years, Rogge has carried out a number of reforms: he invited reputable athletes to the IOC, introduced age restrictions (70 years), changed election procedures, and created an independent ethics commission. Following the example of Samaranch, Rogge continued the course of commercializing sports so that the Olympic Games would eventually become self-sustaining. It is no secret that the lion's share of funds comes to the IOC's accounts from the sale of television rights, so Rogge, who has earned a reputation as a modern leader, did everything to ensure that the sports that are included or claim to be included in the Olympic Games program are spectacular and interesting.

At the IOC session in Copenhagen, the list of the Summer Games was supplemented with two new events. Golf and rugby sevens were included in the program of the 2016 and 2020 Olympics. Golf was supported by 63 IOC members, rugby by 81. However, the IOC reserved the right to reconsider the decision in the event of an unsuccessful debut at the 2016 Olympics.

At the presentations that took place on the eve of the vote, the most successful athlete in this sport, Tiger Woods, campaigned for golf. He emphasized that it would be an honor for any golfer to compete at the Olympics. It is noteworthy that both sports were already in the Olympic program. Golfers last competed for medals at the Games in 1904, and rugby (although real rugby is classical) lost its Olympic status in 1924.

Olga ERMOLINA