Alex Gilady, Olympic broadcasting expert, dies at the age of 79

Alex Gilady was an ultimate Olympic insider. After founding a media company in Israel, Gilady joined the executive team for NBC’s Olympics division, followed by his election as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member in 1994.

Gilady died April 13 in London where he had a residence. Cancer is reported to be the cause of death. Funeral services will be Friday in Israel.

He was called “a visionary and one of the designers of Israeli television,” says a statement from Keshet Media Group, the company he launched in 1993. He resigned in 2017 as CEO.

As an IOC member Gilady was named to the coordination commission for each Olympic Games, up to Paris 2024, lending his expertise to the broadcast plans.

“Today, the Olympic movement lost a giant. Alex Gilady, our friend and colleague of more than 40 years, was a guiding light to our NBC Sports and Olympics teams through 15 Games. His contributions were immeasurable. We will miss his wisdom, warmth and always optimistic spirit,” says a statement from NBC Sports.

Gilady was always optimistic about the outcome of preparations for Olympic Games, no matter the degree of challenge. As Rio de Janeiro tottered from shaky government support in the year ahead of the 2016 Olympics, Gilady told Around the Rings “the images from Rio will be spectacular no matter who leads the government”.

Gilady, who was vice chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for Tokyo moved to the Olympic city months ahead of the pandemic postponed Games when they were held in 2021. He acknowledged the difficulties facing broadcasters from the coronavirus countermeasures but expressed full confidence in the abilities of Japan.

“There is no country better able to respond to this sort of thing,” Gilady told ATR in a brief phone call from Tokyo in June 2020.

IOC President Thomas Bach remembers Gilady as a friend and source of advice. He credits Gilady with convincing him to seek a seat on the IOC Executive Board in 1996, to which he was elected, setting the stage for Bach’s rise to the IOC presidency.

“We all appreciated his open personality and his frank way of speaking even if we did not always agree, because with Alex we always knew that he was speaking from the heart. He was always a genuine person,” says Bach in a statement.

“With the passing of Alex Gilady we are losing a pioneer of the modern Olympic Movement, particularly in regard to broadcasting, but also far beyond that. He has always stood up for the Olympic values, often when sometimes the situation was not easy for him,” the IOC president says.

The media savvy Gilady was a constant presence at IOC meetings through the years. He passed along insights and sometimes secrets to the band of reporters who covered the meetings. He held court in the bar of the Lausanne Palace Hotel, mixing with journalists and IOC officials governed by the so-called “Palace Bar Rule” that what was spoken in the bar remained there.

Steve Wilson, formerly with Associated Press, recalls the Gilady era at the hotel, the place for generations of IOC members to sleep during sojourns to Lausanne.

“He loved to hold court late at night in the same corner table of the Lausanne Palace hotel bar. He would invite select reporters to join him for a drink — on his tab! He rarely spoke on the record but he provided invaluable background and insights. You could always bounce things off of him to get a sense of the IOC’s thinking,” says Wilson, who says Gilady was always happy to share what he could.

“I could always call Alex if he was in Israel or Spain or London and he would call back. He would invite me to lunch at Selfridge’s in London and we would survey the IOC landscape. I always came away more informed. Whenever we would bump into each other at IOC meetings or Olympic Games around the world, he would slap me on the back, grab my arm and greet me with a loud “Stevie!”

Gilady was born in Tehran, Iran where his parents fled from Poland during World War II. He started his career in the 1960s as a journalist, moving into the sports arena. Elected as an IOC member in 1994, he was scheduled to retire at age 80 next year. He was the only IOC member from Israel. Gilady’s death puts the IOC membership at 104.

Juan Antonio Samaranch, IOC Member Spain and Chair of Olympic Channel Services Board released the following statement paying tribute to his friend.

“My heart is truly heavy today with the passing of a friend for more than 40 years, a colleague, an advisor and a true pioneer in Olympic television, Alex Gilady. There was no one like Alex. He was always an advocate for the broadcasters and a force for the Olympic Movement unlike any other. He never hesitated to point out key issues, when others may have stayed silent. Yet at the same time, he was generous with his praise, particularly when he knew the achievement was hard won.

Can not imagine an Olympic Games without Alex, it is almost impossible. He had been a permanent fixture within the IOC and the Olympic Movement, never tiring, always present, to offer words of guidance or course-correct whenever the situation warranted it.

He will be greatly missed. I extend my deepest sympathies to Alex’s family, and only take a moment to smile looking back, at a life well lived.

Cheers to you, dear Alex, with a glass of good red wine in my hand!”