Dick Pound

Dick Pound was a swimming finalist (sixth in the 100 metre freestyle) at the 1960 Olympic Games, who became President of the Canadian Olympic Association in 1977 and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) the following year. His top sporting accomplishments came at the 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, when he won gold in the 110 yard freestyle, silvers in both freestyle relays, and a bronze medal in the medley relay. In 1987, he was elected a Vice-President of the IOC and throughout the 1980s and 1990s he exerted considerable influence in the financial sphere, particularly in negotiations with sponsors, setting up The Olympic Programme (TOP), and in the sale of TV rights. A Montreal based lawyer specializing in tax law, Pound earned his undergraduate and law degrees at McGill University in Montreal. His skills provided support to President Juan Antonio Samaranch in the negotiations with North Korea over the 1988 Games, a topic on which Pound later wrote a book.

Pound was one of the prime candidates to succeed Samaranch as President of the IOC in 2001, but failed in his bid to win the IOC presidency, losing out to Jacques Rogge. Pound was chairman of the IOC Marketing Commission from its inception, until he resigned in 2001 after the election. He was also the Chairman of the IOC commission that oversaw the Olympic Bribery Scandal in 1999, and was named the first Chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a post to which he was re-elected in 2004, serving thru 2007. From 2002-2004, Pound also chaired the Olympic Games Study Commission, which prepared a report on ways to streamline the costs of the Olympic Games and Olympic Winter Games. Dick Pound is likely the most influential IOC Member who never succeeded to the IOC Presidency.