16 July 2001 - Belgian surgeon Jacques Rogge was elected on Monday to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Rogge, 59, won an absolute majority in the second round of voting to take control of the IOC for the next eight years.
Upon hearing the announcement, IAAF President Lamine Diack declared, “The election of Jacques Rogge as heir to Juan Antonio Samaranch is a sign of continuity in the Olympic Movement. I am personally convinced that the passion and competence of my friend Rogge is a guarantee of future success for the IOC.
The scientific and humanistic background of the new President is also a point of fundamental importance, for an understanding of the complexity of the social phenomenon in which our movement will have to thrive in the new century.
Like his famous countryman and predecessor, Count Henri de Baillet-Latour – who when taking over the heritage of Baron de Coubertin in 1925 developed with success the IOC’s activity – Rogge will be able to lead the IOC with loyalty to tradition and confidence in the new ideas introduced by Samaranch, to whom we all owe a debt of recognition.
The international athletics movement – which is a fundamental pillar of the Olympic movement – expresses to the new President its best wishes. We look to a future in which there is ever-closing co-operation between IAAF and IOC, with the goal of offering to a larger number of young people in the world, especially from the developing countries, the right to practise sport.
In this spirit, the athletics movement will be happy to welcome Jacque Rogge to Edmonton, within a few days, on the occasion of the celebration of the 8th IAAF World Championships in Athletics.”
Lamine Diack
IAAF President
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