Jacques Rogge

The 8th President of the IOC, Jacques Rogge was born in Ghent, Belgium on 2 May 1942. Rogge was an accomplished sailor, competing in three Olympic Games (1968, 1972, 1976), making him the second IOC President (after Avery Brundage) to have competed in the Olympics. Rogge’s best Olympic finish was 14th in the Finn Monotype Class in 1972 at Munich. He also competed on one World Championship team in sailing and was a 16-time Belgian champion in the sport. In addition, he competed internationally for Belgium in rugby football, at which he was selected 10 times for the national team.

Rogge’s career prior to ascending to the Presidency was as an orthopaedic surgeon in Belgium. He was formerly Chairman of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Medical Commission, and served as the Chief of the Orthopaedic Surgery Department at Ghent Hospital. As a surgeon, he specialized in sports medicine, particularly injuries to the knee and shoulder. Rogge was married to the former Anne Bovijn, and they had two children.

As a sports administrator Rogge became head of the Comité Olympique et Interfédéral Belge in 1989 and in 1990 he became President of the European Olympic Committees (EOC). He was elected a member of the IOC in 1991 and was appointed to the Executive Board in 1998. He quickly established himself as one of the strongest candidates to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch, and on 16 July 2001, at the 110th IOC Session in Moscow, he defeated Dick Pound (CAN), Kim Un-Yong (KOR), Pál Schmitt (HUN), and Anita DeFrantz (USA) to become the 8th IOC President.

Rogge immediately took to institute cost-cutting reforms to the IOC. He also started the Olympic Games Study Commission to look at the overall costs of staging the Olympic Games, with an eye to prevent cost and size escalation. Under Rogge’s watch, the IOC expanded support for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which has been led by IOC Member Dick Pound, and enlarged and supported the fight against drugs in sport.

Rogge’s primary legacy may become the Youth Olympic Games, a sort of Olympics for junior athletes that others proposed but which Rogge supported. He announced plans for the Youth Olympic Games at the IOC Session in Guatemala in July 2007. The first Youth Olympics were held in 2010 in Singapore, with the first Youth Olympic Winter Games conducted in 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria.

In July 2002, Rogge was appointed a Count by the HM Albert II, King of Belgium. Already a Chevalier, he then possessed several titles, and while he was President, could have been known as Jacques, Count Chevalier Doctor President Rogge. However, he often showed a more common touch. At the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, NBC anchor Bob Costas interviewed him, and noting his various titles, asked how he would like to be addressed, to which Rogge responded, “Call me Jack.”

After two terms as IOC President, Rogge stepped down in 2013 to be succeeded by German Thomas Bach. Rogge returned to Belgium, where he had some health issues in the ensuing years.