IOC and Olympic Movement Leaders Praise Gilbert Felli

(ATR) Leading IOC officials and OCOG leaders speak exclusively to Around the Rings about Gilbert Felli’s impact on the Olympics.

The Olympic Games executive director officially quit the position Monday after 11 years in the job, in which he served under three IOC presidents.

His deputy Christophe Dubi takes over one of the IOC’s most important positions. The Swiss is now charged with overseeing the bidding process, preparations and organisation of all Olympic Games.

Felli will now spend more time focused on his role as the IOC’s troubleshooter for the Rio 2016 Olympics. He is advising Rio 2016 leaders on all aspects of Games preparations to accelerate the delay-hit project and ensure all delivery targets are hit.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman

"Nobody has a more intimate knowledge of the Olympic Games than Gilbert Felli," Nuzman told ATR.

"He is undoubtedly one of the most important individuals responsible for the structure and organisation of the Games. I have known and worked with Gilbert for over a decade and have always admired the depth and strength of his dedication, diplomacy and desire to ensure the best outcomes for the good of the Olympic Movement.

"Here in Rio we will continue to benefit from his unparalleled experience, insight and expertise as he continues to support us on the final two years of our journey towards delivering unique and memorable first ever Games in Brazil and South America. For his passion and commitment to Rio 2016, we consider Gilbert to be an honorary Brazilian."

British IOC Member Craig Reedie

The WADA president, who has worked closely with Felli on various IOC evaluation and coordination commissions for the Olympics also paid a glowing tribute to the Swiss. "The Olympic Games may never have become the greatest show on earth without the skills, the technical know-how, the understanding and the limitless enthusiasm of Gilbert Felli," he said.

"A succession of organizing committees have benefitted from all these attributes and he leaves a glowing legacy for thousands of young athletes and Olympians."

"An Extraordinary Person" - Gunilla Lindberg

The secretary general of the Association of national Olympic Committees and head of the PyeongChang 2018 co-com, described Felli as "an extraordinary person with a great knowledge about the Olympic Movement".

"His skills in negotiations and building networks combined with great knowledge and passion has given him a very reliable reputation as someone people can trust and someone who know what he is talking about," she said. "He will play an important role in the coming years with guiding the organizing committee in Rio with valuable advice and recommendations."

The Swedish IOC member said Felli’s successor "has already shown his skills and the transfer from Gilbert to Christophe has also been going on for some years now. Christophe will create his own profile and lead the work in another way but with his great knowledge and intelligence I am sure that the transfer will be very smooth, and we are already working close together," she added.

PyeongChang 2018

President Yang Ho Cho told ATR that it had been a pleasure to work with Felli over the years. "His vast insight, decades of experience and dedication to the Olympic Movement, is an inspiration to all those in sport," he said. "I sincerely appreciate his commitment to the development and legacyof the Olympic Games and wish him continued success as he works with Rio 2016."

Sochi Achievement

Felli’s close cooperation with Russia’s Olympic authorities and Sochi 2014 organizers in the organization of the fast-track, big-build for this year's Winter Games was one of his notable successes.

Gian-Franco Kasper, president of the International Ski Federation and head of the Association of International Olympic Winter Sports Federations, told ATR that Felli – "an outstanding skier" – should take a lot of credit for the delivery of the Sochi Games. "We always went together with Jean-Claude Killy in his airplane and had a lot of private discussions on the flight. I must say that from the beginning he was one of the real optimists," Kasper said.

"He had always the feeling… don't speak now about construction delays… [and was] very confident that the Russians would be able to do it and was convinced about their system with the two clusters from the beginning."

Kasper, who has served on the last five Winter Olympics coordination commissions since he joined the IOC, said that Felli was"the man who knows the Olympic Games, summer or winter, far better than anyone else.

"And into every detail of the Olympic Games... from commercial side to sports side he was heavily involved and I honestly don't know how the IOC will do it without him in the coming years."

"Like a Swiss Watch" - Rene Fasel

The International Ice Hockey Federation president, who has known the Swiss for nearly 40 years, said: "Gilbert is like a Swiss watch... very precise, waterproof, shock resistant. And very decisive. When he is setting a target, he goes to this target… very loyal to his boss and a huge passion for the Olympic Movement."

He said Felli’s expertise, support and friendship had been a huge help in his chairmanship of the Vancouver 2010 coordination commission. He was the running guy in the back doing all the work, and I was more the political person. But all the technical work was done by Gilbert and his group. It’s still like this."

"If today the Games are like they are, it’s because we have Gilbert and his team in the back… very precise, well organized, controlled."

Fasel said that Felli’s ability to adapt to the challenges of different countries – wherever the Games have been staged – bodes well for his new role advising Rio 2016.

"The highest quality of Gilbert is that he understands the different cultures," the ice hockey leader told ATR. "What he has is this very good feeling on how to bring the message to these people – but still being the Swiss watch."

Immense Impact

Andrew Ryan, director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF), was also full of praise. "The impact of Gilbert on the Olympic Games has been immense and he has set in place a system for delivering the Games that has stood the test of time right back to first Games he was involved with," he said.

"From the [summer] federations side we have a massive debt of gratitude. In that time, we have seen Games develop to establish itself commercially to the giant it is today," Ryan added.

Reported by Mark Bisson, Ed Hula and Brian Pinelli

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