IOC President Jacques Rogge, the man who pointed to Future

Jacques Rogge, an Olympian in sailing who went on to lead the IOC from 2001 to 2013 is dead.

He was 79 and had suffered from declining health in recent years, believed to be related to Parkinson’s disease. He was at home in Dienze, Belgium.

Rogge did not attend the postponed Tokyo Olympics, the first Summer Games he missed since Mexico City in 1968.

Rogge competed in Mexico City, Munich and Montreal. Post Olympics he became an orthopedic surgeon but remained active as a leader of the Belgian NOC. Rogge served as chef de mission for Belgium for Moscow, Los Angeles and Seoul before election as president of the NOC, known as the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee.

Rogge was chosen in 1990 as president of the European Olympic Committees. During his 11 year tenure he developed the European Youth Olympic Festival, the prototype for the Youth Olympic Games which Rogge established when he became IOC President in 2001.

Rogge joined the IOC in 1991 and quickly moved into important postings under IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch. He was named chairman of the IOC coordination commission for Sydney, job that raised the profile of an otherwise junior member of the IOC.

In 1998, as the scandal unraveled over vote-buying of IOC members for the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, Rogge was one of three IOC member named to the IOC’s first commission dealing with ethics. More than a dozen members were forced out or resigned as a result of the panel’s inquiry.

Besides his work in Sydney, in 1997 Rogge was also handed the chairmanship of the IOC commission for the 2004 Games in Athens.

Rogge would become an IOC Executive Board member and vice president, those posts clearly giving him front-runner status to succeed Samaranch when he retired in 2001. Rogge easily won the vote in the field of five candidates.

Just weeks after his election as IOC president, Rogge would face his first crisis. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. came just six months before the open of the 2002 Olympics in Salt Lake City. Given the size of the attack and the many unknowns about how it was carried out, questions immediately were raised as to whether the Games could be held safely.

Never an alarmist, Rogge did not comment publicly about such a possibility. Ten days after the attack he would meet with the leaders of the winter sports federations, issuing a statement affirming their support for Salt Lake City,

Rogge moved forward with his plans to create a Youth Olympic Games as one of his priorities as IOC president. Winning approval in 2007, Singapore was chosen to host the first edition in 2010.

Rogge was a zealot of a zero tolerance for doping. Throughout his 12 year tenure, dozens of athletes were disqualified from the Olympics over doping infractions. In 2006 came one of the most notorious episodes when Italian police raided the lodging for members of the Austrian biathlon and cross country ski teams at the Turin Olympics. Under Rogge’s watch, the IOC began to stockpile doping samples for testing years after the Games. Those retests have yielded dozens of new doping cases.

Under Rogge’s presidency three cities were chosen as Summer Olympic hosts: London for 2012, Rio De Janeiro in 2016 and Tokyo in 2020, that vote coming in the final days of his mandate in 2013.

Rogge launched the formation of the IOC’s rainy day fund, meant to fill any gap in revenue owing to cancellation of the Olympics. Rising to near $700 million a couple of years ago, the fund will help buffer the expenses of the postponed Tokyo Olympics.

Invited by successor Thomas Bach to attend IOC meetings, Rogge did so for the first few years of his retirement. He was reluctant to speak out, respecting the domain of the sitting president.

For a while he was involved with the IOC’s refugee team, he worked as well with the U.N. on related matters. He developed a relationship with the U.N. that led to observer status for the IOC. Rogge frequently visited U.N. headquarters in New York.

The Rogge family is asking for privacy at this time and requests that condolences be directed through the IOC. A public service is to be planned later in the year.

Rogge is survived by his wife Anne, a son, a daughter and grandchildren.