mattperiolat Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 I'm curious, even if he does have at least two more Olympics to go, if a general opinion on Jacques Rogge's "reign" as IOC President has been formed. I see from time to time thoughts pop up on Brundage and Samaranch in particular, but not so much on the current President. So, what do you all think? Good, bad, indifferent? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 I thought he only had one more games to go - London. He'll be out in 2013, before Sochi happens. And, no, I haven't forgotten the YOGs. I just don't count them as real games. Overall, I think Rogge is what was needed after JAS - someone a bit more diplomatic, less dictatorial, more collegiate inn his approach. I'd give him an "A". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gangwon Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Rogge won't leave the same kind of mark Samaranch did (JAS being a product of his upbringing and also being head during a time of great world change), but I applaud Rogge for not making changes simply for the sake of making changes simply for the sake of being remembered for something (except for the Youth Olympics, what baloney). Whereas Samaranch will be known for turning the Olympics into a self-sufficient org, changing the landscape of financing through broadcasting and sponsorships, turning IOC sessions themselves into glamourous events, tackling doping through Dick his right-hand man, bringing China the Games, and unilaterally changing the rules as he goes, I'm not quite sure what Rogge will be remembered for. He brought the Games to South America, and he oversaw the Youth Olympics, but I hope that dies a quick death. He was good, but I'm ready for new leadership. Edit: You just KNOW the IOC members will look at this thread, so now's the time to express how you REALLY feel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Rogge was the only IOC president in my interest as an Olympic fan from 2002. It will be sad to see him go. The Winter Olympics have certainly evolved under him, and probably the most expensive games ever happened under his leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 He's been a good manager - diplomatic, uncontroversial, firm but not heavy handed. In a decade that has seen the rest of the world go through some very trying times, his tenure as head of the IOC has kept the Olympic movement alive and healthy. He's not an exciting personality, but he's got a level head and has been good for the IOC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissO Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 He is the man that contribute to "clean" the IOC, that reintroduce values in the Olympic Movement and that create the Youth Olympic Games... Yes, YOG are the future of the Olympic Movement, important in its growth, focusing on the youth, their education and their sport development ! I'm not sure people who are against the YOG knows about what they are talking... I have attended the first ones in Singapour, I am following the preparation and will be at the 1st Winter ones... and I can guarantee you that those games have a real future and place in the olympic movement, first for the athletes and second for cities that could not afford the SOG or WOG ! Give them some time and media will give them all the interest they deserve ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soaring Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 He is the man that contribute to "clean" the IOC, that reintroduce values in the Olympic Movement and that create the Youth Olympic Games... Yes, YOG are the future of the Olympic Movement, important in its growth, focusing on the youth, their education and their sport development ! I'm not sure people who are against the YOG knows about what they are talking... I have attended the first ones in Singapour, I am following the preparation and will be at the 1st Winter ones... and I can guarantee you that those games have a real future and place in the olympic movement, first for the athletes and second for cities that could not afford the SOG or WOG ! Give them some time and media will give them all the interest they deserve ! You sound like an IOC official. Glad to have you here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenadian Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Not to side track the conversation, but isn't the purpose of the YOG to engage and excite young kids about sport? So how does another restrictive, elite quadrennial international event achieve this? I think the goal would be best achieved and have more relevance if approached from the grassroots. Not with a kiddie version of the Olympics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwissO Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 You sound like an IOC official. Glad to have you here! No, nothing to deal with IOC, just the opinion of an olympic fan for years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattperiolat Posted December 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Not to side track the conversation, but isn't the purpose of the YOG to engage and excite young kids about sport? So how does another restrictive, elite quadrennial international event achieve this? I think the goal would be best achieved and have more relevance if approached from the grassroots. Not with a kiddie version of the Olympics. Another way for the Chinese to exploit children outside of the big show? Seriously, the CONCEPT is a good one - an entry level for younger people to condition themselves and get ready for the elite version of the Olympics. Basically, it is an attempt by the IOC to encourage greater participation. The problem is this is not being executed well. Rogge launched it too fast before what it is supposed to be was established or before even interest and how to participate had been established. I'd love to see the idea thrive, but I have my doubts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainad Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 A decent guy, courteous and diplomatic. A little aloof perhaps but nothing arrogant, rude or bossy. He always reminds me of a benevolent headmaster, kindly but firm. I think the IOC has increased in international respect under his leadership. He has by and large avoided the scandals that tarnished the tenures of many of his predecessors. He has lent a quiet dignity and respect to the role. Will be interesting to see how different things might be under his successor. But at least he will have provided him with a steady ship to take the helm! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Rols Posted December 12, 2011 Report Share Posted December 12, 2011 Will be interesting to see how different things might be under his successor. Yeah, gotta say, I don't have much idea about Bach's style and personality (assuming he gets the job - but from what I've read, he's really the almost inevitable successor). Any ideas from the German members about how he's likely to be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athensfan Posted December 18, 2011 Report Share Posted December 18, 2011 I have not been charmed by Rogge. He is such a political animal that he virtually never speaks candidly -- unless pressuring someone to bid. To outward appearances, his whole presidency has been focused on " being nice." He doesnt seem to care about financial realities. He has the tendency to say that the bid races are all neck and neck and anyone can win -- that is until a winner is announced -- at which point he does a 180 and says the winner was always the best choice and blew away the competition on the basis of merit. I dont trust him or like him. As for the YOGs, I believe they are ill-conceived and unnecessary. The question isn't whether they'll die, the question is when. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fox334 Posted December 20, 2011 Report Share Posted December 20, 2011 I think he did a rather good job. Especially when you compare to his countrymen over at MaFIFA. He steadied the ship after Samarach and cleaned the house, so to speak. He essentially addressed the problems of Juan's presidency, which is what the IOC needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel Iredale Posted December 21, 2011 Report Share Posted December 21, 2011 I think he did a rather good job. Especially when you compare to his countrymen over at MaFIFA. He steadied the ship after Samarach and cleaned the house, so to speak. He essentially addressed the problems of Juan's presidency, which is what the IOC needed. Good point, although Rogge is Belgian and Blatter is Swiss, if that is indeed who you refer to... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brekkie Boy Posted January 28, 2012 Report Share Posted January 28, 2012 Considering the most comparable figure of his generation is Sebb Blatter he's always going to come out on top, but I think he's been a good boss for the IOC and didn't actually realise he was off after London until I saw his interview with the BBC today. I agree with the earlier comment the Winter games have really found their footing under his leadership - though the seven year lag in hosts being selected and hosting the games means it's difficult to credit them for specific games - only Vancouver and London will have won bids and been hosted under Rogges leadership. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alphamale86 Posted January 29, 2012 Report Share Posted January 29, 2012 I agree with a lot of you on Rogue. He was to me a class act of a president. He did lack some personality but you definitely knew who was the boss. I feel as though it allowed us to focus on the games and not the personalities behind it. As for the Youth Olympics I am on the fence about that. I remember being 13 and writing a letter to the IOC asking them to create a youth Olympics so that young people, like myself at the time, could compete. However after seeing what the games are they are really just a glorified high school meet with not as strong of an impact as I would have liked. Should they be discontinued? well what do young athlete think of it? I am sure it means a lot to them, so it might be worth keeping but tweeking. Definitely the Winter Games have come a long way under his reign. I watch all the events with equal excitement and I am from a caribbean island originally. The games on the whole just seem a lot more exciting than they were. Thanks jaque Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotosy Posted May 10, 2012 Report Share Posted May 10, 2012 Rogge looks to retirement with pride in the past Jacques Rogge has plenty to do when he retires as President of the International Olympic Committee in just over a year's time -- and he says he will do so proud of the legacy he leaves behind. The 70-year-old Belgian, at the helm since he was elected to replace Juan Antonio Samaranch in 2001, said there was much to be pleased about as he contemplates life after 12 years as head of sport's most powerful governing body. His successor will be elected in Buenos Aires in September next year. "Normally with regards to legacy you only speak about that when people die," he told AFP in an interview this week at IOC headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. "I didn't take the mandate up to leave a legacy and historians can write about that in 20 years time if they so wish. However... I took up the baton of Samaranch and I believe I will leave behind some notable successes. "The quality of the Olympic Games under my presidency have been very well organised, the Youth Olympic Games (his brainchild) has been a very great success. "I have fought against doping and illegal betting and I will leave with the financial revenue in a very strong state. "This (money) is not a good thing necessarily and not the essence of what we are about but without money you cannot cook!" Rogge, an orthopaedic surgeon by profession, said that his sporting background -- he was an Olympic yachtsman and played rugby for Belgium -- had given him some important lessons in how to address his responsibilities as head of the IOC. "I am blessed by a very diversified upbringing," said Rogge, who was also a ringside boxing doctor and was once told in no uncertain terms by his wife that she would not do his laundry when he came back from bouts spattered in blood. "I competed in an individual sport -- sailing -- and the collective sport, with rather less success, of rugby. So, hopefully I took the best out of both the individual and collective sports. "Definitely one thing you take out of both is that if you are not a superman at sports -- and I was definitely not superman -- then it teaches you humility, because you lose more often than you win." Rogge retired from sailing aged 34, turning his attention to the political side of sports, joining first his national Olympic committee and then accepting Samaranch's invitation to become an IOC member in 1991. He said he had enjoyed many aspects of the job. "A great bonus is to be in contact with different members of society," he explained. "You meet with the media, you meet with corporate businessmen for sponsorship reasons then there is the TV world and the scientific world for the battle against doping and the health of the athletes. "But for me to this day the nicest moment is being in the stadia and with the athletes in the athletes' village." Rogge said his most difficult moment as an athlete came when he decided after great personal turmoil to continue to compete at the 1972 Munich Games after Palestinian terror group Black September killed 11 Israeli coaches and athletes. He said he has clear plans for what he will do once he steps down. "Well, it is clear you have much more time before you," he said with a smile. "I will practise more sport, on the bike or the treadmill with appropriate weight training which does not give me injuries! "I will continue to do some sailing and while I am a very bad golf player I would still like to persist and play. "I will read the enormous pile of books (he especially likes ones on philosophy, science and history and cites the French classic 'The Little Prince' by Antoine de Saint-Exupery as his favourite book) and I am a great lover of both modern art and contemporary art, so there are many museums to visit and more time to do it. "Other than that I will drive my two grandchildren to the sports club!" AFP http://sports.yahoo.com/news/rogge-looks-retirement-pride-past-161842514--oly.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athensfan Posted May 10, 2012 Report Share Posted May 10, 2012 Thanks, gotosy. Interesting post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gotosy Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 Rogge's IOC Presidency Was a Study in Details If organizing were an Olympic sport, Jacques Rogge might win a gold medal. London marks the final games for the 70-year-old president of the International Olympic Committee, whose decade-long reign weathered near-calamity in Athens and political firestorm in Beijing. He leaves his successor with thetwin challenges of competing with professional leagues for the attention of youth and figuring out how to tap the Internet to bolster the IOC's TV-reliant business model. Rogge's predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, was a diplomat and showman who created the modern Olympics as a business with big TV contracts and sponsors. Rogge, a Belgian orthopedic surgeon by training, used his steady hand and reserved voice to transform the business into what might be considered a blue-chip multinational, delivering consistent and profitable spectacle. Rogge leaves the IOC with cash in its coffers, and major broadcast rights—which make up 75% of the organization's budget—signed through 2020. "I am happy about the fact that the Olympic Games under my watch were good games," Rogge said in his final London press conference on Sunday. "The IOC worked hard on values -- to fight against doping and match fixing and illegal gambling." Rogge brought transparency to an organization that had been susceptible to bribery under Samaranch, who used to have people refer to him as "Your Excellency." A former Olympic sailor, Rogge brought the focus back to the athletes. He was the first IOC president to stay in the Village. "In general, the stature of the IOC has improved and I think there is a lot of transparency in what we do," said Richard Carrión, an IOC member from Puerto Rico who chairs the IOC's finance committee and was instrumental in negotiating television rights. Rogge is an "unbelievable organizer" said Dick Ebersol, the longtime organizer of NBC's Olympic broadcast coverage. "As an operator, he has been without parallel in the history of the movement."He has gotten the most out of people and organizations, and he has done it quietly. Known for stern speeches during opening ceremonies,Rogge has an uncanny ability to focus on the details, say IOC members and colleagues. Rogge was instrumental in ensuring the troubled Athens Games came together, and worked behind the scenes to keep Beijing on track after a global torch relay beset byprotests threatened to overshadow the Olympics with politics. He has emphasized knowledge transfer from one host to the next; teams from London will be meeting with organizers from Rio de Janeiro in the fall. Under his watch, the games included more women participants. He also held firm on a long-running dispute with the U.S. Olympic Committee over that country's share of sponsorship and broadcast revenues, reaching a deal that will reduce the U.S. share in the coming years. Rogge is less known for bold vision. He hasn't much changed the IOC's reliance on broadcast TV, even as the Internet has changed how people watch and read about the games. And the Olympics, which features sports like the modern pentathlon that are long out of fashion, faces a challenge in attracting younger audiences and participants. Rogge instituted at separate Youth Olympic Games, first held in Singapore in 2010, in an attempt to rejuvenate the organization's appeal. But few have heard about the event. "They were 'sold' to the IOC members as the IOC's low-cost contribution to sedentary lifestyles among the youth of the world and morbid obesity," said Richard Pound, an IOC member from Canada who lost against Rogge in a bid for the group's presidency. "Instead, they are high cost, low value games directed at youth already in the high performance sport system and are of no particular sport importance." On Sunday, Mr. Rogge said that "the Youth Games will definitely be something very important for the Olympic movement," adding that some 90 former Youth Games athletes won medals in London. Candidates to replace Rogge in 2013 won't declare themselves until next year. Rogge's advice to his successor on Sunday was, in characteristic fashion, focused on organization. "I believe in the fundamentals that are there for every games," he said, focusing on the close coordination between the IOC and host city. "This will continue after I have finished my mandate, I have no doubt." Write to Geoffrey A. Fowler at geoffrey.fowler@wsj.com and Matthew Futterman at matthew.futterman@wsj.com A version of this article appeared August 13, 2012, on page B9 in the U.S. edition of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Rogge's IOC Presidency Was a Study in Details http://online.wsj.co...2344701454.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olympic Fan Darcy Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 It'll suck to see him go, but can't wait to see who the next president will be! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul92 Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 How does it work then? One of the current IOC members is voted to take his place? And we will know the decision is made when a puff of white smoke comes out the top of the IOC headquarters? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 How does it work then? Usually, it's who has the biggest Olympic pin or torch collection that inherits the presidency. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mainad Posted August 13, 2012 Report Share Posted August 13, 2012 How does it work then? One of the current IOC members is voted to take his place? Yes. I think any IOC member can stand for election. The way it is run is similar to an Olympic bid election. If there is more than two candidates, the one with the fewest votes drops out in each round until one of them gets a clear majority. And we will know the decision is made when a puff of white smoke comes out the top of the IOC headquarters? Lol...not quite as dramatic as that. The outgoing IOC president, ie. Rogge will make the announcement after the election is held. At least that's what happened when he was elected to succeed Samaranch. It'll suck to see him go, but can't wait to see who the next president will be! Thomas Bach, one of the German IOC members and a current Vice-President is thought to be the favourite. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattperiolat Posted August 14, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2012 And we are to assume no old guard member like Dick Pound as much of a chance? Or perhaps fresh blood with a more recent IOC member? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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