Jacques Rogge

57
Jacques Rogge bigraphy, stories - International Olympic Committee President

Jacques Rogge : biography

2 May 1942 –

Jacques Rogge, Count Rogge ( born 2 May 1942), is a Belgian sports administrator. He is the eighth and current President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), elected in 2001.

Notes

Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:Belgian nobility Category:Belgian rugby union players Category:Belgian Roman Catholics Category:Belgian sportspeople Category:Belgian surgeons Category:Belgian yacht racers Category:Counts of Belgium Category:Ghent University alumni Category:International Olympic Committee members Category:Officiers of the Légion d’honneur Category:Olympic sailors of Belgium Category:Sailors at the 1968 Summer Olympics Category:Sailors at the 1972 Summer Olympics Category:Sailors at the 1976 Summer Olympics Category:People from Ghent Category:Presidents of the International Olympic Committee Category:Sports players and officials awarded knighthoods Category:Honorary Officers of the Order of the Star of Ghana

Life and career

Born in Ghent, Belgium, under the Nazi-occupation, Rogge is by profession an orthopedic surgeon and was educated at the University of Ghent. Rogge competed in yachting in the 1968, 1972 and 1976 Summer Olympics, and played on the Belgian national rugby union team. In yachting (Finn-class) he won the world championships once and took second place twice, and was crowned Belgian champion sixteen times. He also won the Yachting World Cadet Trophy and took part in the regatta Ton Cup.

Rogge served as President of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989 to 1992, and as President of the European Olympic Committees from 1989 to 2001. He became a member of the IOC in 1991 and joined its Executive Board in 1998. He was knighted in 1992, and in 2002 made a Count in the Belgian nobility by King Albert II.

In his free time, Rogge is known to admire modern art and is an avid reader of historical and scientific literature."2007 impressions," Het Laatste Nieuws, 31 December 2007 He is married to Anne; they have two adult children. His son Philippe was the delegation leader of the Belgian Olympic Committee for the 2008 Summer Olympics.

President of the IOC

Rogge was elected as President of the IOC on 16 July 2001 at the 112th IOC Session in Moscow as the successor to Marqués de Samaranch, who had previously led the IOC since 1980.

Under his leadership, the IOC aims to create more possibilities for developing countries to bid for and be host of the Olympic Games. Rogge believes that this vision can be achieved in the not-too-distant future through government backing and new IOC policies that constrain the size, complexity and cost of hosting the Olympic Games.

At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rogge became the first ever IOC President to stay in the Olympic village, thereby enjoying closer contact with the athletes.

In October 2009 he was re-elected for a new term as President of the IOC. In 2013 he will not be eligible for a new term. In September 2013 at the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires a new IOC President will be elected.

During the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Rogge delivered a commemoration of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, after his fatal accident while practising at the Whistler Sliding Center on 12 February 2010.

In 2011, a Forbes Magazine list of the 68 most powerful people in the world listed Rogge at no. 67.

On 27 July 2011, one year prior to London 2012, Rogge attended a ceremony at Trafalgar Square where, in accordance with tradition as President of the IOC, he invited athletes worldwide to compete in the forthcoming Olympic Games. Former Olympian HRH The Princess Royal unveiled medals up for grabs, after both Prime Minister David Cameron and the Mayor of London had given speeches.

In December 2011, Jacques Rogge was invested as an Officer of the Légion d’honneur by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. http://www.aroundtherings.com/articles/view.aspx?id=38849

Controversies

Chinese internet censorship