Jacques Rogge, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Vladimir Putin,
following Rogge's election as IOC President in 2001
What a talented man!! Since the orthopaedic surgeon is a professional who specialises in diagnosing, treating & rehabilitating musculoskeletal injuries and diseases, it is a specialty that requires years of training. The musculoskeletal system includes bones, joints, ligaments, tendons, muscles and nerves. The conditions dealt with include arthritis, cerebral palsy, congenital disorders, degenerative diseases, sports injuries and tumours. Rogge worked as an orthopaedic surgeon in Deinze near Ghent when he met his future wife Dr Anne Bovyn who did radiology. Thankfully in his busy practice he spoke 5 languages fluently: French, German, English, Spanish and Dutch/Flemish.
Rogge was a Belgian national and international champion in rugby, winning 16 caps for Belgium! He was a one-time yachting world champion. He also competed in the Finn class of sailing in three Summer Olympic Games; in Mexico 1968, Munich 1972 & Montreal 1976.
Rogge was the president of the Belgian Olympic Committee from 1989-92, and as President of the European Olympic Committee from 1989-2001. He became a member of the IOC in 1991 and joined its executive board in 1998. Rogge became President of the IOC in 2001 at the IOC Session in Moscow as the successor to Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former Franco-era diplomat who had previously led the IOC since 1980. At the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Rogge became the first IOC President to stay in the Olympic village, thus enjoying closer contact with the athletes. His diplomatic manner and leadership style have been effective in addressing problems plaguing organised sports worldwide, including corruption. While Samaranch had been criticised for sloppy control of performance-enhancing drugs, Dr Rogge initiated a high-profile zero tolerance policy on their use.
One bit of ugliness. “Allowing women ski jumpers into the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics would dilute the medals being handed out to male ski jumpers” Rogge said “Since there were only 80 women ski jumpers in the world and the sport had not yet reached the IOC's standard for being included in an Olympics”, Rogge loathed the suggestion the IOC was discriminating against women. Oh dear!
London Olympic Village, 2012
In July 2011, a year prior to London 2012, Rogge attended a ceremony at Trafalgar Square where he invited athletes worldwide to compete in the forthcoming Olympic Games. Former Olympians the Princess Royal and Sebastian Coe unveiled the medals, and Prime Minister David Cameron and London Mayor Boris Johnson gave speeches. In Dec 2011, Rogge won an Officer of the Légion d'honneur from French Pres. Sarkozy.
Alas Rogge criticised Usain Bolt's gestures of jubilation after winning the 100 ms in world record time (Beijing 2008) as not behaving with sportsmanship and questioned whether the Jamaican sprinter was a living legend in London. Bolt showed no respect to his opponents, he said. In response to his comments, Sports columnist Dan Wetzel contended that the IOC has made billions from athletes like Bolt for years! Did white winners not celebrate with great excitement?
Worse still Rogge rejected calls for a minute of silence to be held to honour the 11 Israeli Olympians murdered in the 1972 Munich Massacre, at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. He did this despite families of the 11 Israeli Olympic team members’ requests & political requests from the U.S, Britain and Germany. Instead Rogge opted for a quiet ceremony at Guildhall London. If the dead sportsmen had not been Jewish, would their murders have been worthy of a minute’s memorial in front of millions of viewers?
Alas Rogge criticised Usain Bolt's gestures of jubilation after winning the 100 ms in world record time (Beijing 2008) as not behaving with sportsmanship and questioned whether the Jamaican sprinter was a living legend in London. Bolt showed no respect to his opponents, he said. In response to his comments, Sports columnist Dan Wetzel contended that the IOC has made billions from athletes like Bolt for years! Did white winners not celebrate with great excitement?
Worse still Rogge rejected calls for a minute of silence to be held to honour the 11 Israeli Olympians murdered in the 1972 Munich Massacre, at the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. He did this despite families of the 11 Israeli Olympic team members’ requests & political requests from the U.S, Britain and Germany. Instead Rogge opted for a quiet ceremony at Guildhall London. If the dead sportsmen had not been Jewish, would their murders have been worthy of a minute’s memorial in front of millions of viewers?
IOC in Buenos Aires in 2013
In Buenos Aires in 2013, German Thomas Bach (a fencing gold medallist in Montreal) was elected as Rogge’s successor. In 2014, Rogge was appointed Special Envoy for Youth Refugees and Sport by the United Nations Secretary-General, to help promote sport as an empowering tool for youth from refugee communities towards peace, security, reconciliation, health, education and gender equality. Rogge saw this as his greatest legacy
In Oct 2016, The British School of Brussels opened their new sports centre in Tervuren, Belgium. It was called The Jacques Rogge Sports Centre. He died in 2021, aged 79.
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30 comments:
That is a man with so many skills, talents and achievements
Perhaps he did not move on with times as he should have.
I was quite impressed until I read he vetoed calls for a minute of silence in remembrance for the Munich Massacre.
Bribery, corruption, secret payments, expulsions from IOC.. Samaranch was no role model. But Rogge didn't learn, apparently.
Seems he had his own ideas, but what a talented man he was.
Enjoyed read about him Hels, thank you.
Power corrupts.
Jacques Rogge was a very talented man!
roentare
I think many people can have expertise in one area, and occasionally in two. But Dr Rogge was an expert in Sports Medicine, Medicine, Orthopaedic Surgery; he was totally fluent in 5 languages; he was an Olympic rugby and sailing champion; and in diplomacy.
Andrew
Rogge was the president of the Belgian Olympic Committee, and then the President of the European Olympic Committee from 1989-2001. He then was President of the IOC from 2001 on, and was very well received!
Liam
I lived in the UK in 1972 and planned to visit Munich during the Olympic Games. Thank goodness I was too pregnant to travel. But the catastrophe still haunts my thinking during every subsequent Games :(
His views about women athletes and black men were also shocking.
Deb
Juan Samaranch was not my favourite leader *nod* But some of his era was under the Franco era and perhaps bribery was a normal method of dealing in the world then. His long rule (21-years) over the Olympics seemed corrupt to me, at least once we finally heard what had happened :(
Margaret
I am beginning to think that many uber-talented human beings leave two very different legacies. Think of Charles Dickens, a brilliant author, who was brutally cruel to his wife, locking her up and never allowing to ever see her 10 children.
Irina
You are totally correct. Not only was he well prepared for all his diverse and heavy responsibilities; he enjoyed his careers enormously.
The headline in the Independent newspaper (2021) said: "Jacques Rogge: IOC president who took his surgeon’s scalpel to cancer of corruption and doping".
"During his term of office (2001-13) he successfully transformed the organisation’s public image and restored its finances after several years of corruption allegations".
There is nothing like a good mixed metaphor :)
I think he sounds like a super person and anybody who works as hard as he did in his career in medicine and for the people gets my approval. Ok he made a few mistakes but he was a man of his time and unfortunately that is how it was but we have moved on from that now. His Munich decision should have been thought more through but then hindsight is a wonderful thing.
Rachel
I always thought that language skills were the truest test of a genius mind. All people speak one language fluently, and some lucky ones speak a second language fluently. But more that that would muddle our brains. Rogge spoke Dutch/Flemish from home, then French, German, English and Spanish.
Medicine is another thing altogether. To be accepted for orthopaedic training generally takes 4-6 years _after_ graduation from Medicine to pass all the pre-requisites to be accepted onto the programme *sigh*
Jacques Rogge was indeed a remarkable figure with a diverse and impactful career. However, the controversies surrounding his decisions, particularly regarding gender equality and the Munich massacre memorial, show that even the most respected leaders face difficult decisions and criticisms. Despite these, his legacy, especially his work with youth refugees, continues to inspire.
Pradeep Nair
His work for Youth Refugees and Sport was innovative and vital. And will continue to be vital, as long as young people are moved away from their homes.
Despite his vast knowledge in medicine and sports, it would appear Rogee found no way to escape Parkinson. He died at 79 as a result of Parkinson disease.
DUTA
There is no cure for Parkinson's, which Rogge knew. But he remained involved in the Parkinson's community and talked about their potential role in future Para Olympics. What a very cool man.
Hello Hels, I think that to evaluate Rogge's controversial decisions, it would be necessary to study their context in great detail. For example, it seems good sense to honor the massacre victims, but why particularly at the 40th anniversary? But perhaps this was Rogge's way to add a tinge of anti-Semitism to the proceedings.
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By the way, did you see the announcement for Sotheby's sale of the important 1312 Shem Tov bible? The lot description is unusually detailed and interesting, describing the meaning of the special text and illustrations, and the bible's long provenance.
https://www.sothebys.com/en/buy/auction/2024/the-shem-tov-bible-a-masterpiece-from-the-golden-age-of-spain/the-shem-tov-bible-soria-castille-1312
--Jim
He sounds like an interesting man, not perfect but no man is
Parnassus
when my beloved first son (51) passed away earlier this year, I re-examined my old will with a view to rearrange my superannuation and savings to _his_ son. The only allocation to my favourite charity was the Jewish Library of Victoria.
The Shem Tov Bible, Soria (Castile), 1312 is absolutely precious. I would happily buy it at auction and donate it to the Jewish Library of Victoria, but the estimated value is U.S $ 7,000,000. Sadly for me.
Jo-Anne
Dr Rogge was such a genius and dedicated to his causes, I don't even mind that he wasn't perfect. None of us are, and we aren't even very very clever.
Talented Yes but also entitled, Dominant and wrapped up in his own view of things . His time was up and really men like him need to just start to shut up and listen . There is my rant for the day :)
mem
rant away, sister :) I doubt if there was a male head of a national or international organisation, university, church or hospital that didn't follow his own view of things. Especially since Dr Rogge knew perfectly well that he was extraordinarily skilled.
I never heard of Mr. Rogge, which is not surprising, because I am not at all interested in Sport, never watched the Olympics, and never read about him in Belgian newspapers. I have to say that I live in the French speaking part of Belgium.
Hi Hels - interesting post about Rogge ... I enjoyed reading it - his ups and his downs ... cheers Hilary
Gattina
I am passionate about Olympic Sports (that don't involve violence) and watched Paris every day. But my point in mentioning Dr Rogge's involved in Olympics was that his diplomacy and leadership effectively addressed on-going problems that had plagued organised sports worldwide, especially corruption. Belgium should have made him the national hero.
Hilary
as I believe, every powerful and uber-skilled leader must come to believe that his opinion is dominant. Other people may give advice, but it may or may not be listened to.
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