On the Scene: From Shoes to Letters, Life of an IOC President

(ATR) The life and times of Juan Antonio Samaranch are laid out in intimate detail at a memorial in Tianjin, China. With Samaranch’s successor Jacques Rogge on hand, the 20,000 square foot museum was dedicated Sunday.

"I think they have done a good job organizing the personality of the man and expressing it. It’s more than mere photographs. It’s expressing his personality, his achievements," Rogge tells Around the Rings.

From Samaranch’s black Testoni slip-on shoes, to letters, memorabilia and family paintings, the exhibits come from the collection of more than 16,000 items that Samaranch handed over to Chinese Taipei IOC member C.K. Wu before his death in 2010.

Wu says only a fraction of the items he gathered into hundreds of boxes from Barcelona are on display. It’s the first exhibition of its kind for Samaranch, who led the IOC from 1980 to 2001, a period of challenges, triumphs and scandal.

The memorial is a tribute to the late IOC leader, not a critical review of his life. Wu says he sought to create the memorial to honor Samaranch, whom he calls "my mentor, my friend". It’s also friendly territory for the edifice. Samaranch remains beloved in China for his role in bringing the 2008 Olympics to Beijing. The IOC vote came in the final days of his presidency.

Wu says Tianjin was selected for the museum because it is the historical home of the Olympics in China. And the project has the financial backing of the city government of Tianjin, covering the $10 million+ needed to build the memorial in a sports park far from the center of the city.

While the museum appears to be in the middle of nowhere, with a stadium and tennis center its only neighbors, the city of Tianjin is no hamlet. The modern port city 160km southeast of Beijing has a population pushing 13 million. Samaranch visited twice, in 1990 to attend a trade fair and in 1995 for the table tennis world championships.

The memorial, designed in a circular scheme, includes family photos and portraits of his parents, probably never seenby a wider world. But much of the exhibition focuses on his years with the IOC that began in 1966. One exhibit is dedicated to his wife, who died on the eve of the Sydney Olympics.

Samaranch’s work to advance the cause of sport and the environment, fair play, and of course, his advocacy of China, are among other facets of his career on display. One exhibit delves into the vote-buying scandal involving the Salt Lake City Olympics that consumed his final years in office.

"It’s a great tribute to Juan Antonio Samaranch who did a lot of great things for the OlympicMovement," observed Ukraine’s Sergei Bubka, one of two-dozen IOC members who made the trek to Tianjin, a group that could well include the next IOC president.

Along with Bubka, presidential aspirants Thomas Bach, Richard Carrion, Ser Miang Ng and Denis Oswald all got a glimpse of the memorial to an IOC president from an era that will not return.

Other dignitaries included federation presidents Marius Vizer from judo, Klaus Schormann of modern pentathlon and Don Porter of baseball. From Samaranch’s staff were director general Francois Carrard and marketing chief Michael Payne. Samaranch’s son and daughter and a flock of other relatives also attended.

As with any modern museum a gift shop offers some trinkets and other souvenirs, but the Spanish grocery section is a first. Along with wristbands, mugs and notebooks, the shop features shelves laden with foodstuffs of Spain. Olives, oils and rioja guarantee visitors can leave with something not made in China.

The Samranch Memorial opens to the public May 1.

Written and reported in Tianjin by Ed Hula.

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