Leo Cuff

Leo Cuff was a top New Zealand athlete, winning the national long jump title in 1889 and 1895-96, and he also competed in cricket and rugby. In 1887 he helped form the New Zealand Athletic Association and in 1894 was a founding member of the New Zealand Cricket Council. Cuff met Pierre de Coubertin when he toured Europe in 1892 with a group of New Zealand athletes. He was invited to the 1894 Sorbonne Congress but was unable to attend, although he was appointed by de Coubertin as an IOC founding member.

Cuff worked as an insurance underwriter, later moving to Melbourne and Tasmania, where he represented the state in bowls and golf. Unable to attend any IOC Sessions because of the travel time to Oceania, Cuff tendered his resignation in January 1905 against de Coubertin’s wishes. Cuff died in October 1954 in Launceston, Tasmania, the last surviving founding member of the IOC.