Chapter 14 Chapter 12 Realizing the Dream: Barcelona Olympics (2)

In 1983, Malaga invited entrepreneurs and celebrities to gather at the Chamber of Commerce in Barcelona.He recalled to the guests the rapid development of Barcelona's urban construction brought about by holding expositions in 1888 and 1929, and talked about Barcelona's long-cherished wish to host the Olympic Games.Moreover, as favored by businessmen, they revealed that hosting an Olympic Games can generally earn at least US$200 million in net income.Sometimes he made generous speeches, and sometimes he talked eloquently. It can be said that he was full of emotion, and in the end he almost burst into tears. All the people present were moved by him, and he donated 50 million pesetas on the spot.

However, 50 million pesetas is a drop in the bucket for the bid to host the Olympic Games, and it is far from the required amount.Malaga also entrusted Ferrer Zarate, President of the Spanish Olympic Committee, and Leopoldo Bades, a great entrepreneur, to establish the "Barcelona 92 ​​Olympic Business Association" as a long-term institution that accepts donations.Ferrer Zarate and Leopoldo Bades are both smart and capable, with a wide range of contacts, and they have a certain influence in Barcelona.According to later statistics, the entire bid cost 1.674 billion pesetas, about half of which came from the Barcelona City Government, and the other half was provided by the Barcelona 92 ​​Olympic Enterprise Federation.

The funds raised for the bid ended up with a balance of 123 million pesetas plus interest of about 10 million pesetas.In order to let people remember this great action forever, Malagall decided to donate part of the remaining money to the Lausanne Olympic Memorial, and the other part is going to be used to build a monument to bid for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. Zarate and Bades also took on the task of public relations.To this end they organized a public relations committee including diplomats, public relations officials and Miss Vicky Ibarra, one of the leaders of the Spanish Olympic Committee.Miss Ibarra's father, Pedro Ibarra, was a member of the IOC for 33 years and became an honorary member in 1985.He is very familiar with other members of the International Olympic Committee, and this time he also helped.

All the staff work together to be active.In just one and a half years, they used every opportunity to hold meetings, sports competitions or performances to contact IOC members. On average, each IOC member had contact with this public relations committee member 7 times.A total of 72 IOC members have visited Barcelona, ​​and Bades alone has entertained IOC members at his home 69 times.The members of the public relations committee traveled to 56 countries, and sometimes even visited the homes of members of the International Olympic Committee.The cost of the whole activity is as high as 300 million to 350 million pesetas.

The secret to success is not high cost, but clever arrangements.Before each banquet, the host knows the occupation and habits of the guests in detail.If the guest is a banker, invite local bankers to accompany him; if the guest is a politician, there will be diplomats present; Unpleasure due to differences; the most important thing is not to talk about Barcelona during the dinner, lest the guests have the worry of "eating other people's mouths". In order to enable guests to leave a deep impression on Barcelona, ​​the public relations committee also specially equipped with a helicopter.Every time guests visit, they are arranged to take a flight to see Barcelona from a bird's eye view.In this way, the rationality of the urban construction layout of Bacheng can be seen at a glance, and the flying dust will not stain the guests' clean white shirts and shiny leather shoes.

All guests will be received by the mayor, and the mayor will respond to the guests' requests.A committee member asked if his son, who is a doctor, can practice in Barcelona, ​​no problem; Nigerian general Nid Feppe is fond of collecting seeds, so he got all kinds of rare seeds in Barcelona; Wajih Ali of Pakistan has a family of millions, He just thought it would be disrespectful not to be received by the king, and the royal family immediately complied with his request.The guests came in high spirits and returned satisfied.Good impression of Barcelona. But there is one thing Malagar noticed, that is, not to cause too much trouble for Samaranch.Samaranch also never talked about Barcelona to other IOC members and publicly stated that he would not participate in the vote to ensure the fairness of the vote.

Sarat lived up to expectations, and both fundraising and public relations were successful.Spanish Prime Minister Gonzalez, Malaga and Samaranch are very satisfied with his performance.Zarate was co-opted as an IOC member just as Pedro Ibarra became an honorary member of the IOC, effectively retiring from the IOC. In June 1985, the 90th IOC General Assembly was held in Berlin.Although the determination of the host city of the 25th Olympic Games was discussed and decided at the 91st General Assembly in Lausanne, Switzerland in October 1986, among the six bid cities, except New Delhi, India, Paris, Amsterdam, Hillisban, Belgrade and Barcelona all sent The delegation headed by the mayor will compete like athletes before the International Olympic Committee finally votes to decide the host city of the 25th Olympic Games.

All the delegations live together with the IOC members in the most luxurious and expensive Palace Hotel in Berlin.They hold an exhibition in the center of Berlin, promote the favorable conditions of their city to the members of the International Olympic Committee, and take turns washing the dust and farewell for the members. All the delegations were tight-lipped about their own budgets, but Malagall publicly announced to reporters that Barcelona's campaign expenses were as high as 10 million US dollars, which made reporters speechless. Shortly thereafter, Malaga announced that each IOC member would be presented with a copy of the engraving "The Discus Thrower" by a Spanish artist. "The Discus Thrower" was originally a sculpture made by the ancient Greek artist Michelangelo for the Olympic Games.Malagall borrowed this art treasure showing the strong physique and fighting majesty of ancient athletes, which embodies Barcelona's determination and confidence in competing for the Olympic Games.

The presenting ceremony is held in each member country.He Zhenliang, who had just been elected to the executive committee, was naturally among the recipients.For this event, the Spanish embassy in China, contrary to its previous reserve, took the initiative to invite reporters from several major news organizations in Beijing.Ms. Yima, who is known as a master of China in the Cultural Department, was very busy running around, interpreting for the ambassador and explaining to the reporters.After the ceremony, the Spanish ambassador hosted He Zhenliang again. October 17, 1986 may be just an ordinary day in the minds of most people, but Samaranch, Malagall and countless Barcelona people will not forget it.On this day, at the 91st general meeting of the IOC in Lausanne, Samaranch solemnly announced that the 25th Olympic Games will be held in Barcelona in July 1992.

When the news came, King Juan Carlos I immediately summoned Malagall to congratulate him in person.Later, the Spanish government established the Olympic Government Representative Committee to concentrate efforts to help Barcelona prepare for the Olympic Games. In order to make the preparations go smoothly, Malagall personally served as the chairman of the Olympic Organizing Committee. He truly felt that a heavier burden had been placed on his shoulders.He no longer has time to take care of other things. There are so many things to do in preparation, he has to take care of many things himself, and he must devote almost all his energy to this matter.Maybe that was the only big thing he did as mayor, but it was great.As for success or not, only the world can judge.

Malagall is the general commander of the preparations, and he spent 5 months preparing the organizing committee.As the president of the International Olympic Committee, Samaranch hopes that the Olympic Games held during his tenure will be better and better; as a native of Barcelona, ​​he has placed a special expectation on this Olympic Games.He hopes that this Olympic Games can become a monument in the history of the Olympic Games, which will be an honor for Barcelona to go down in history.So Samaranch gave special attention to the Barcelona Olympics through Zarate and Rhodes. As the host country of the Olympic Games, there must be a main venue capable of accommodating 80,000 people for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games.Samaranch suggested that Malaga build a new stadium. To some extent, this stadium will also be a memorial to the 25th Olympic Games. But Malagall thought otherwise.If conditions permit, it is certainly a good thing to be able to build a new large-scale stadium, but the funds, time and manpower for organizing the Olympic Games are very limited.The construction of a large stadium will involve a lot of manpower and material resources, and if it is not done well, it will affect the basic construction of the entire Olympic Games.Malaga decided to expand the existing Montjuic Hill Stadium as the main venue for the Olympic Games. Samaranch objected to this. The Montjuic Stadium was built in 1929 to hold the Barcelona International Fair, and it has been more than half a century.Although it was renovated in 1936, it is too old after all, and the original design capacity was only 35,000 people, far from the requirement of 80,000 people. Malagall convened a study of engineering designers led by Oriol Boyegas to find a practical solution.Finally, it was decided to completely dismantle the original spectator stand, and only keep the four walls of the stadium. At the same time, the original central field was dug 11 meters down, and the seats in the auditorium were rearranged to reduce the distance between seats.The result of this is that although the competition venue is smaller and the runway is shorter, the audience capacity has increased from 35,000 to 65,000. This stadium was used to hold the 5th World Cup in 1989.Unfortunately, during the opening ceremony, heavy rain fell from the sky, the top of the rostrum leaked heavily, and the guests were in an uproar.Although this was an accident, it exposed the quality problems of the construction project. Samaranch was already dissatisfied with using the Montjuic Hill Stadium as the main venue, and the rain leak made him even more suspicious. Samaranch once again asked to build a stadium, but Malagall said that he had more than enough energy, and time obviously did not allow any new plans for the main venue. Samaranch couldn't help feeling angry.Soon, when he inspected the Barcelona Olympic infrastructure project, he publicly expressed his dissatisfaction to reporters. The press was shocked and disclosed Samaranch's attitude one after another. But Malagall has no time to take care of the main venue. He still has to consider the location of the Olympic Village.From a geographical point of view, it is most appropriate for the Olympic Village to be established in the Pueblo Nuevo District.Pueblo Nuevo District is on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, only 2 kilometers away from the sea, and only 2 kilometers away from the city center, with convenient transportation and pleasant air. From the perspective of urban construction, this area was originally an old industrial area, most of which were small textile factories. The first textile factory of modern Spanish industry was built there.This district has old factory buildings, many chimneys and turbid air. It is an area in Barcelona that needs to be rebuilt. As early as the 1970s, Barcelona set off a craze that changed the face of the city.Former mayor Narciss Serra made it clear shortly after taking office: "I have an idea that we have to remake our city like mending a sock." Serra's ideas have transformed most of the disorganized factories and dilapidated houses district by district, while the Pueblo Nuevo District, like the few other old districts, still affects the city's appearance there, Air pollution.Malagall intends to combine the basic construction of the Olympic Games with urban planning and transformation, move the industrial zone to a free trade zone far away from the city, and build the Olympic Village on the land of the original industrial zone.The establishment of the Olympic Village will not only change the appearance of this area, but also improve the living standards of residents in this area to a large extent. But this plan was immediately opposed by Pratt Urban Construction Company.The Pueblo Nuevo area is located in the Prate region. If the Olympic Village is built in the Pueblo Nuevo area, the entire construction plan of the Prate area will be affected. Pratt Urban Construction Company was established on January 7, 1966 with a registered capital of 100 million pesetas, of which Samaranch invested 2.7 million pesetas.By 1989, its registered capital had reached 1.47 billion pesetas.The company has unabated ambitions and decided to take over all the construction business of all buildings, service facilities, official organizations and institutions in the Pratt area according to its own plan, and also undertake the construction of hotels, restaurants, bars and coffee shops in Pratt , swimming pool and other construction projects. In 1990, the registered capital of the company had reached 10 billion pesetas, and Samaranch owned shares of 30 million pesetas. As early as 1972, Samaranch announced that "Prate is the resort beach of Barcelona", and revealed to the press his intention to build the Prat area into a "resort area". The Prater area is indeed suitable for creating a "resort area", including the Llobregat Delta with an area of ​​about 75 hectares, which is suitable for yachting activities.However, most of the delta is a swampy area. For this reason, the Pratt Company drained the water of a lake and filled it with soil to create a high-end camping site in Karagogo of about ten hectares. The next step of the Pratt Urban Construction Company is to build a resort in the Pueblo Nuevo district, turning the entire Pratt area into a veritable "resort area". However, after Pratt's plan was submitted to the Barcelona Municipal Government, it caused controversy within the municipal government. It was not approved until 1976 when the municipal government passed the "Urban Construction Master Plan".So Pratt & Co. set out to fully implement its plan. After Narciss Serra took office as the first democratically elected mayor, he rejected the previous government's "Urban Construction Master Plan", and the plan resubmitted by Pratt was also locked in the city government's filing cabinet and put on hold. Pratt's construction work had to be stopped. Now that the plan to build the Olympic Village has been proposed, Samaranch has to think about the Pratt Company.Once the Olympic Village is established here, Pratt's plan can only go down the drain. In fact, building the Olympic Village in Pueblo Nuevo was not Malagall's last idea. When Barcelona competed to host the 1972 Olympic Games in 1966, it decided to build the Olympic Village here.After the right to host the Olympic Games was taken away by Munich, the plan to establish the Olympic Village was naturally abandoned.This time, Pueblo Nuevo was chosen to build the Olympic Village, which is really expected. Also opposing the construction of the Olympic Village in Pueblo Nuevo is Ferrer Zarate, who owns a pharmaceutical processing factory in the district.If the Olympic Village is built here, his factory will have to be relocated.He made great contributions to Barcelona's winning the right to host the Olympic Games, and he is still busy preparing for the Olympic Games, but he did not expect that the competition for the Olympic Games would squeeze out his own pharmaceutical factory.Zarate publicly opposed the construction of the Olympic Village in Pueblo Nuevo, and insisted that the Olympic Village be built in the Sante Cugat area 25 kilometers away from the Montjuic Hill Stadium. Malagall did not budge.Zarate had to move out of Samaranch, but the Barcelona municipal government insisted on building the Olympic Village in Pueblo, and clearly pointed out that certain personal interests must not be allowed to affect the overall situation of the Olympic Games and the overall construction of Barcelona planning.Salat backed off for the time being. But Sarat didn't stop there. In the winter of 1988, when he led the team to participate in the Calgary Winter Olympics, he still discussed with the Barcelona Olympic Organizing Committee representatives the possibility of changing the location of the Olympic Village, and suggested that a reporter village be built like the Seoul Olympics.If a reporter village can be built in Pueblo, after the Olympic Games, these small buildings can accommodate some retirees or people who spend weekends in Barcelona.The city of Barcelona rejected Zarate's proposal.Zarate knew that although he had some say in the preparations for the Olympics, there was really nothing he could do about it.In the end, Salat had no choice but to announce that he was going to withdraw his small share in Pratt and quit Pratt. Thanks to the insistence of the organizing committee, the construction of the Olympic Village in Pueblo Nuevo finally started.A large number of old buildings were demolished, factories were relocated, and the entire area was then cleared.Many dilapidated warehouses have no one to take care of them, only the construction workers do it themselves.One of the meat processing factories left behind 80 tons of spoiled pork and offal, which workers had to wear protective clothing to remove.A worker said: "The feet of maggots crawling inside are as thick as fingers." Not only that, but also to clean up the nearby beaches, remove the sundries on the seabed, and purify the seawater. The Olympic Village covers an area of ​​120,000 square meters, most of which are 6-story buildings that can accommodate 15,000 athletes.A large chimney built at the end of the last century is preserved in the Olympic Village as a symbol of the original old factories and simple houses.When designing the Olympic Village, the future use of some facilities was considered, such as a water tower with a capacity of 60,000 cubic meters, which will supply water to the city of Barcelona after the Olympic Games. The same problem encountered with the selection of the Olympic Village site is the problem of site selection for the construction of the Olympic Port. The southeast of Barcelona borders the Mediterranean Sea and is an important port of entry and exit for Spain.But in Barcelona, ​​there is not yet a dedicated sports port.As a result, water sports have been underdeveloped in Spain.As early as the 1966 bid for the Olympic Games, the authorities envisioned building a sports port in Barcelona.The "National Unity" reported this at the time: “Another plan is to build a sports port at the mouth of the Plat Lóvregat River, which will be used by yacht clubs in the future. To this end, the three kilometers of the Lóv Regat River will be dredged and built for regattas. Necessary site, and also to build a large swimming pool next to the Olympic Village. This plan is enough to urbanize the south of Barcelona, ​​and turn the swampy area of ​​the Llobregat Delta into a modern sports facility with a pleasant environment, beautiful and prosperous Olympic Village." Now that hosting the Olympic Games has become a reality, it is inevitable to build a sports port. However, the plan of the organizing committee to build the Olympic Port does not fully match the plan of the Pratt Urban Construction Company, so the Pratt Urban Construction Company also took an attitude of not supporting it.The organizing committee was not influenced by the outside world, and completed the construction plan of the Olympic Port as scheduled according to its own plan, so that the preparations for the Olympic water sports competition were successfully completed. Samaranch has a special concern for the preparations for the Barcelona Olympics.From the selection of the organizing committee to the engineering construction and competition items, all aspects have been considered.Malagar knew that Samaranch, as the president of the International Olympic Committee, had many things to worry about, so he tried his best not to distract Samaranch from the specific preparations for the Barcelona Olympic Games.The two cooperated tacitly, and the preparation work basically went smoothly. Samaranch is too concerned about the Barcelona Olympics to allow mistakes in the preparations. In 1989, when the World Cup track and field competition was held at the Montjuic Mountain Stadium, there was a rain leak on the rostrum, and at the same time, the deviation of Barcelona's organizational work was exposed during the game.What made people even more angry was that King Juan Carlos I of Spain was invited to participate in the opening ceremony of the World Cup track and field competition. Unexpectedly, after hearing the news, some Basque independents stopped the king's car halfway, shouting slogans, The whistle was blown, and the police dispatched a large number of policemen to disperse the people who besieged the king.But the Kings were still quite a bit late when they arrived at the stadium.The king's trapped incident made Samaranch very angry. It not only affected the opening time of the World Cup track and field competition, but more importantly, it made people have serious doubts about Barcelona's ability to defend security. Samaranch severely criticized Malagall.In order to urge the smooth progress of the preparations for the Barcelona Olympic Games, Samaranch publicly disclosed to foreign journalists some shortcomings in the work of the organizing committee.The organizing committee attached great importance to Samaranch's opinions and quickly improved some working methods that had problems. Samaranch was very happy about this.A few months later, he held talks with representatives of the Olympic organizing committee in Lausanne.After the talks, Samaranch delivered a speech on TV, expressing his satisfaction with the preparations for Barcelona and expressing obvious optimism about the success of the Barcelona Olympic Games.People noticed that this was the first time that Samaranch was optimistic about the future of the Olympic Games. Samaranch believes that the development of the Olympic movement depends on the success of the Olympic Games, and perfect preparations are the guarantee for the success of the Olympic Games. A successful Olympic Games will inevitably have a favorable impact on subsequent Olympic Games.While Samaranch expressed optimism towards the Barcelona Olympics, he was also full of confidence in the future development of the Olympic movement. Likewise, Malagall was never in doubt about Barcelona's Olympic success.Malagale is a confident person. Regarding the identified goals, he believes that as long as he puts in great efforts and adapts to objective conditions, there will be nothing impossible. Malagall's confidence in his goals never wavered, and he took the specifics equally seriously and meticulously.Just taking the construction of the Olympic Village as an example, in order to build the Olympic Village, adjustments need to be made to the urban renewal plan, including the laying of new railway lines, the construction of tunnels, and the drainage system of the Pueblo Nuevo District needs to be remodeled , so that the urban drainage pipes away from the beach of the future Olympic Village.In addition, there are architectural planning and structural design of the Olympic Village, including coordinating the relationship between various departments.Sometimes he had to meet some foreign reporters, so he had to compress the interview time to 3 minutes. Of course, the success of the Barcelona Olympics cannot be entirely attributed to Samaranch or Malagall personally.Behind them are many other workers, and three million Barcelonans, of whom more than 100,000 have signed up to serve as Olympic volunteers. In August 1989, when Barcelona was nervously preparing for the 25th Olympic Games, a piece of news that made the organizing committee and Barcelona people feel happy and proud came from Puerto Rico, far away in the Caribbean Sea: the Olympic Games will be held on August 30. At the IOC Executive Committee meeting, Samaranch was re-elected as the president of the IOC with an absolute advantage for a term of four years.Malagall was the first to send a congratulatory letter. On the one hand, he congratulated Samaranch on his re-election. On the other hand, he also expressed his enthusiasm for Samaranch's bid for his hometown Barcelona and preparations for the 25th Olympic Games. Sincere thanks for the effort.In his reply letter, Samaranch highly praised Malagall's great contribution to the holding of the Barcelona Olympic Games. The sports event with the farthest influence and "truly embodies the spirit of Olympic unity".Samaranch and Barcelona are full of confidence for the upcoming July 25th. On June 9, 1992, on the eve of the opening of the 25th Olympic Games, Samaranch answered a question from the editor-in-chief of China's "New Sports" magazine, He Huixian, from his busy schedule. high hopes and a deep understanding of Olympism. Question: Mr. Chairman, in your opinion, what are the new features of this Olympic Games? A: The International Olympic Committee now has more sources of income than in the past, and uses this to help national Olympic committees develop sports, promote Olympism and select athletes to participate in the Olympic Games.These raised an important controversy, namely the format, scope and planning of the Olympic Games.The Olympic Games should bring together the best athletes from all over the world. At the same time, we must ensure the global scope of the games, and the total number of participating athletes should not exceed 10,000.This is one of the serious challenges we face. In terms of the role of women, there are more events for them to participate in than in the past. The new NOC will be invited to join the IOC.Our most important responsibility now is to help develop the Olympic Movement in every region of the world.Mutual cooperation between the IOC and the International Federations and National Olympic Committees will be strengthened. We will also continue to fight resolutely against doping and all kinds of cheating. We will be more concerned with the history of the Olympic Movement and with the moral and philosophical aspects of Olympism. The Olympic Movement will play an active role in environmental protection, especially in the location of the Olympic Games. We will fight more resolutely against those who politicize the Games. The commercialization of sport will continue as it can and should contribute to sport development and the Olympic Movement.It's just that it will be restricted by the International Olympic Committee, various international sports federations and national Olympic committees.It is our responsibility to fight for a part of the money brought by sports itself for athletes to participate in the Olympic Games and to develop the Olympic Movement.But the Olympic Movement must honor our ideals of respecting our opponents, being honest, being above ourselves, and embodying all that the phrase "fair play" can mean. Q: What new plans do you have for promoting the Olympic spirit? A: The only way to promote the Olympic spirit is to persevere and take all possible measures to promote the Olympic spirit to the younger generation - the audience and the people.One way of doing this is what your magazine is doing, which is to publish a special issue of the Olympic Games to educate readers on the basic principles of Olympism. Q: Please talk about your views on the prospects of the Olympic Games. A: In recent years, the Olympic Movement has made great progress, and its influence—not only in sports but also in social life—and its international prestige have reached a level never before achieved.It is more united, more democratic, with solid economic and organizational foundations than in the past.Because of its ability to adapt to the tremendous changes in the world, it is fully capable of coping with the challenges and difficulties we face, such as environmental protection, helping sports people in poor areas develop their Olympic Games, and bringing together different beliefs, political opinions, and People of all races and nationalities, developing the Olympic Movement in a region currently experiencing dangerous political upheaval. Today's world is characterized not only by the prevalence of mechanized science and technology, but also by social and racial discrimination and political and religious struggles.Because of this, the world needs Olympism and its ability to mediate racial conflict more than ever. Juan Antonio Samaranch (signed) On July 25, 1992, 7,108 male players and 2,851 female players from 172 countries and regions gathered at the Montjuic Stadium in Barcelona.Spanish Prime Minister Gonzalez announced the opening of the 25th Olympic Games. Samaranch then delivered a speech, highly admiring everything Barcelona has done for the opening of the Olympic Games. He reviewed the difficult journey of the modern Olympic movement and wished Athletes from all over the world achieved the best results. After 15 days of intense competition, the US delegation won 108 medals (including 37 gold medals), ranking first in the medal list, and the Commonwealth of Independent States won 102 medals (45 gold), ranking second, followed by Germany (82 medals, 33 gold), China (54 medals, 16 gold), Cuba (31 medals, 14 gold).The host Spanish delegation won 13 gold medals (a total of 22 medals), which greatly exceeded the total number of gold medals in previous Olympic Games (4), which made Samaranch and his hometown elders feel extremely proud. For the first time in 40 years, the Summer Olympics took place in an atmosphere free of hostility between East and West, and for the first time in 20 years, there was no boycott. South Africa, a once abandoned country in the world, has returned to the Olympic family after 32 years because of the overthrow of the apartheid system.The return of South Africa, Samaranch devoted a lot of effort.It can be said that the return of South Africa is one of Samaranch's greatest contributions to the development of the Olympic movement. In 1948, on the basis of the original apartheid system, the South African National Party, which had just come into power, implemented a policy of apartheid, which inevitably had to be reflected in sports.Many sports venues have posted "No Negroes Entering" signs, which deprived many talented black athletes of necessary training conditions and the opportunity to compete for rankings on the sports field. In the 1960 Rome Olympics, South African athletes were all white, which caused dissatisfaction among many participants.Considering that they have already appeared in the Olympic Games, it is too late to shut them out. The world public opinion can only strongly condemn them and put pressure on the South African government. On the eve of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.Due to the South African government's stubborn implementation of the apartheid policy, especially in the selection of athletes, it is not the level of athletes' competition performance, but their skin color that determines whether they are eligible to represent South Africa.The International Olympic Committee therefore disqualified the South African athlete as punishment for violating the sacred spirit of the Olympics. The issue of racism resurfaced at the 1968 Mexico Olympics.At the beginning of the year, in line with the principle of promoting human unity and mutual understanding, the International Olympic Committee made a decision to allow South Africa to participate in the Olympic Games.This decision was immediately opposed by many national Olympic committees. Africa's highest sports council announced that if South Africa was allowed to participate in the Olympic Games, Africa would resolutely boycott it.Under pressure from all walks of life, the International Olympic Committee announced that it would change its original decision after several heated debates by the Executive Committee.As a result, South Africa was once again denied the door to the Olympics. Since then, the issue of South Africa's participation in the Olympic Games has become a very sensitive issue. Once it was raised, it was strongly opposed by African countries.It developed until the 21st Olympic Games in 1976, when a serious incident of collective boycott by African countries finally broke out. The cause of the incident was a sports exchange between New Zealand and South Africa. A representative of the New Zealand government once stated at the United Nations Special Committee that New Zealand does not allow any sports team from South Africa to participate in sports competitions held in New Zealand, unless the selection of South African players is not determined on the basis of racial discrimination, but on the basis of their real sports Expertise is the only criterion.But in 1975, New Zealand announced a message that contradicted this provision: New Zealand would send a rugby team to South Africa for a "friendship" match with the country's athletes.At the end of the year, New Zealand's presidential election began.In order to win more voters, Malden, who participated in the election, lobbied around and assured voters that if he won, he would reopen sports exchanges with South Africa.Moreover, he will go to South Africa with the New Zealand rugby team.So some football stars took to the streets, trying to win votes for him. In early 1976, the new government of the victorious Muldoon sanctioned sports competitions between New Zealanders and South Africans, while also extending an invitation to the South African national softball team to compete in the International Softball Championships in New Zealand earlier that year.The South African side accepted the invitation, despite protests from the United Nations and almost all countries in the world.The African Sports Council immediately met in Nairobi and decided that if the New Zealand rugby team insisted on visiting South Africa, they would boycott all of New Zealand's Olympic sports.The president of the African Sports Council rushed to New Zealand to urge the Malden government to cancel the rugby team's trip to South Africa.As a result, he was "closed door".On the day of his arrival, New Zealand's "black shirt rugby team" flew to Cape Town to participate in a "friendly" match. On July 7, 10 days before the opening of the Montreal Olympic Games, the heads of state of the Organization of African Unity gathered in Mauritius. The resolution passed at the meeting asked African countries to reconsider their participation in the Olympic Games in the case of New Zealand's participation in the Olympic Games.Two days before the curtain was left, the chairman and secretary-general of the Supreme Council of African Sports held a meeting of heads of delegations from African countries in the Montreal Olympic Village to inform them of the resolutions of the OAU.Subsequently, the meeting of heads of delegation also made a resolution. The heads of delegations of African countries jointly sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee, hoping that the International Olympic Committee would disqualify New Zealand from participating in the current Olympic Games.The day before the opening, the International Olympic Committee responded by rejecting the request of African countries. On July 17, the Olympic Games took place as scheduled, while athletes from several African countries boarded planes from Montreal to Nairobi and other African cities. Facing boycotts from African countries and pressure from other circles, the International Olympic Committee exerted pressure on the South African government on the one hand, and on the other hand, made active efforts to strive for South Africa to return to the big family of the International Olympics as soon as possible. It was after Samaranch took office as President of the International Olympic Committee that he started to carry out this hard work vigorously and resolutely. In 1981, Samaranch started his long journey in Tokyo to solve the South African problem.At that time, with the help of Samaranch, representatives of the Olympic Committees of African countries gathered together to establish African National Olympic Committees like other continents. In the 1980 Moscow Olympics and the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, the mutual boycott of the US-Soviet bloc became the top priority for the IOC. Even so, Samaranch did not forget the South African issue.非洲各国放弃前嫌，接纳南非回到奥林匹克大家庭的时机正逐步成熟。 1985年10月24日至11月4日，萨马兰奇对非洲12国进行了一次“旋风式的访问”。每到一国，他都要宣传奥林匹克精神的宗旨，呼吁非洲国家汇集到奥林匹克这面和平的旗帜下。通过这次访问，萨马兰奇对非洲国家参加汉城奥运会充满了信心。虽然抵制奥运会的可能并非绝对消失，可他对避免这一局面的出现已胸有成竹。 1988年4月，国际奥委会在洛桑请来了非洲体育官员，召开一次讨论取消体育上种族歧视问题的会议。其目的在于使国际体育界建立起共同的原则和对策。会后，萨马兰奇在国际奥委会中设立了“种族隔离委员会”，这是他开始着手解决南非问题的又一措施。 这些工作很快收到了成效，非洲国家没有对汉城奥运会进行抵制，更重要的是，这些工作为以后南非问题的解决奠定了基础。 经过萨马兰奇不断地做工作，非洲体育界一些领导人开始接受他的思想。即在一个真正平等的体育比赛中，承认南非，可能会对南非社会逐步转变和开放产生强有力的影响。 1988年，解决南非问题的具体安排被提上议事日程。当南非国家奥委会的代表提出要见萨马兰奇时，萨马兰奇的回答非常简单，他们必须首先与隔离委员会的负责人、国际奥委会委员姆拜厄会谈。这一年年底，在维也纳召开了隔离委员会的第一次会议。 萨马兰奇在1989年9月在洛桑会见了来访的南非国家奥委会代表。通过与他们的交谈，他更加认识到，选择一个合适的人选，就等于问题解决了一半。按照他的一贯作风，对任何复杂问题，即使他已有深思熟虑的看法，也不第一个表示出来。因为萨马兰奇清楚，来自第一线的人最有发言权，他们的意见更加符合实际。于是，他总是在下面与最广解实际情况的人交流，将自己的想法传达给他们，然后从他们的角度将此看法提出来。萨马兰奇经过长时间的物色，最终任命来自塞内加尔的姆拜厄为隔离委员会主席，由他负责解决南非问题。 10月，在姆拜厄的安排下，南非国家奥委会主席和总秘书第一次与非洲黑人体育组织进行了正式接触、双方在洛桑的会面，标志着非洲体育中长期对立的两方开始了有积极意义的接触。11月，哈拉雷，种族融合南非体育团体与国际体育反种族隔离运动的领导人萨姆拉姆萨米及费克着基丹恩会面。非洲其他国家与南非体育官员的交往日益频繁，双方在很多问题上开始听取对方的意见一出现了良好的气氛，为进一步打破几十年的坚冰奠定了基础。 1990年9月，第四次国际体育反种族隔离会议在挪威首都斯德哥尔摩举行。会议要求或说希望有一种力量，能够强迫南非在政治上取消种族隔离政策。南非体育界也在寻求一种暂时的解决方法，即建立一人一票的投票制度。南非国家奥委会也派出了代表参加这次会议，并在会议上表达了非洲人对在体育大家庭中解决南非问题的良好愿望。 这一年，萨马兰奇使国际奥委会与南非体育界的接触多起来，取得的成果日益明显，令非洲各界人士的心里升起新的希望之帆。 1991年1月，萨马兰奇和拉姆萨米在巴黎会见了南非国家奥委会的代表。此后，拉姆萨米又单独与南非国家奥委会官员进行了会谈。2月，南非的代表们又与姆拜厄举行了会谈，所有这些会议，国际奥委会从组织到财政都予以大力支持。11月，5个非洲体育组织在哈拉雷组成了一个非洲体育协商委员会。同月，萨马兰奇在国际奥委会执行委员会会议上提出了一个大胆的建议：国际奥委会将止武派出代表访问南非。12月，国际奥委会先行人员非正式地访问了南非首都约翰内斯堡。 1991年2月，应非洲国家奥委会委员会的要求，在博茨瓦纳成立了由5个南非体育团体组成的南非临时国家奥委会。3月，国际奥委会派出的特别代表团来到南非，先后会见了南非总统德克拉克、南非黑人运动领袖曼德拉、因卡塔自由党领导人布特莱齐。在此期间，代表团还与南非的5个体育团体进行了富有成果的讨论。 约翰内斯堡，国际奥委会特别代表团离开前的新闻发布会上，团长姆拜厄宣布了这次访问的实质性结果。基于下述6项条件，他代表国际奥委会和非洲国家奥委会委员会通告，暂时承认南非国家奥委会为国际奥委会成员。 这6项条件为： 一、按照南非总统德克拉克的允诺，在南非废除种族隔离法； 二、南非临时国家奥林匹克委员会在组织上和行动上遵守奥林匹克宪章； 三、南非临时国家奥委会制定相应的章程，鼓励南非体育运动委员会与国际单项体育联合会关系的正常化； 四、在不分种族的基础上寻求体育界的统一； 五、使南非临时国家奥委会与非洲国家奥委会委员会的关系正常化； 六、直至暂停参加国际比赛的执行时间生效。 姆拜厄语惊四座，醒悟过来的记者们纷纷抢发新闻。6月，南非国内废除种族隔离法。时隔不久，在伯明翰举行的国际奥委会全体委员会议上原则通过了这一临时承认。7月，国际奥委会洛桑特别会议上，由萨马兰奇和最高执委会签署一项决议：永久性地接纳南非国家奥委会为国际奥委会成员。 经过萨马兰奇和国际奥委会11年的努力，南非终于回到了奥林匹克的大家庭里。多少南非运动员在得知这一消息时不禁流下了激动的热泪。1992年7月25日，当南非体育代表团进入巴塞罗那蒙锥克山体育场时，全体观众都报以热烈的掌声。他们知道，南非重返奥林匹克大家庭，不仅是奥林匹克运动的胜利，也是人类战胜种族歧视和种族隔离的巨大胜利。 8月9日，巴塞罗那奥运会在一片辉煌中降下了帷幕。萨马兰奇在把五环旗交给亚特兰大市长时，心中百感交集，巴塞罗那奥运会可以说是他担任国际奥委会主席以来最成功的一部杰作，他为之倾注了无数的心血；他的改革理想经过实践的检验最终被证明光大了顾拜旦首创的奥林匹克主义，推动了现代奥林匹克运动的发展；现在他已届高年，在到达了一生辉煌的顶点后，是不是应该考虑激流勇退，将身上的重任移交给后来者。 ... 事实上，在巴塞罗那奥运会举办期间，萨马兰奇就意识到自己似乎已完成了历史所付与的使命，该告老还乡了。但是这副担子交给谁，他一直在找，但一直没有找到一个理想的人选。况且，奥林匹克运动要发展，就得不断地进行改革，而这个改革的总体设计仿佛非他莫属。 萨马兰奇也知道，有好几个人正在觊觎他的位子。对于这个位子所带来的荣誉，萨马兰奇从来没有放在心上，该得到的东西都已经得到了；继续在这个位置上干下去，恐怕也不会再得到什么新的东西。 然而，他就像一位艺术家对待自己一件极其优秀的作品，就像一位年轻的母亲对待自己的婴儿一样，对国际奥委会产生了一种难舍难分、欲罢不能的感情。他总觉得他离不开国际奥委会，而且国际奥委会也离不开他。为奥林匹克运动工作已经成为他生命的一部分，也是他生活中不可缺少的内容。 当他为奥林匹克运动而奔波劳累，常常感到心力交瘁的时候，他多想休息休息，哪怕是一个小憩。可是当他面临退休年龄的时候，又不可避免地感到了一种隐隐的失落。 的确，他已经做了退休的打算，并且已经开始了回忆录的写作。但是同前6任主席相比，他的年龄尚属中等，仍有余力继续工作。 萨马兰奇又仔细地算了一下前6任主席的退休年龄。 第1任主席维凯拉斯退休时61岁； 第2任主席顾拜旦退休时62岁； 第3任主席巴耶·拉图尔在65岁高龄时长眠于他的工作岗位上； 第4任主席埃德斯特隆退休时已81岁； 第5任主席布伦戴奇在84岁的高龄退休； 第6任主席基拉宁1980年退休时，年龄已达66岁。 萨马兰奇任国际奥委会主席至今才12年，他仍然有充沛的精力在这个位置上工作下去。作为国际体育界的领袖，他深深懂得激流勇退的含义。回想起自己过去的工作，他不能不感到欣喜。在他担任主席期间，奥运会一届比一届办得好，这是有目共睹、有口皆碑的。 欣喜之余，他又不能不有所担忧。国际奥委会同其它国际体育组织之间的微妙关系究竟能够维持多久？如果有一天电视媒介拒绝转播奥运会，那奥运会以及奥运会的经费不足的问题如何解决呢？假如有人组织一场国际性友谊赛，把国际奥委会完全排斥在外，那国际奥委会又应当怎么办呢？ 他也知道，他的成绩已经引起了某些嫉恨，而这些嫉恨又转成了某种恶意的攻击。也许他做得越多，在成功的道路上走得越远，受到的攻击也就越多。 1992年4月，两个英国记者出版了一本名为《五环的老爷们》的书。这本书把国际奥委会描绘为贪婪受贿的俱乐部。书中攻击萨马兰奇主席独裁专横，攻击国际足联主席阿维兰热、国际田联主席内比奥罗、国家奥委会联合会主席巴斯克斯·拉尼亚耍弄权术，说是有个拉丁帮“黑手党”控制了国际体坛。此书出版的同时，英国报界一片鼓噪，提出应“撤换教皇”；呼吁要英国籍国际奥委会委员安妮公主出任国际奥委会主席，吹捧她从来拒受各申办城市的礼物，是国际奥委会中最清白的委员；说英国最有民主传统，等等。英国的电视台也推波助澜'放映了一个攻击国际奥委会的节目。 《五环的老爷们》这本书有约90处与事实不符，又广泛恶毒攻击，自然引起国际奥委会的强烈反感。国外一些舆论认为这场喧哗代表了盎格鲁·撒克逊体育界一些人的想法。因为在很长时期内许多国际体育组织都是英、美人任主席，他们对近十几年来大权旁落、影响削弱的现状耿耿于怀，想借攻击国际奥委会夺回国际体育组织的领导权。 5月上旬国际奥委会塞维利亚执委会上讨论了对这本书应如何反应，决定要在瑞士法院向作者提出控告。 7月21日，奥运会召开前夕，安妮公主向英国报界声称她不可能有时间去担任需要专职的国际奥委会主席，也没有人正式向她提出过，表白了她没有打算争当国际奥委会主席。 安妮公主的申明无疑向英国新闻界迎头浇了一盆凉水，《五环的老爷们》搅起的风波也逐渐趋于平静。但萨马兰奇的心情却久久难以平静下来，他为了奥林匹克事业的发展，披肝沥胆、呕心沥血，结果仍遭到无中生有的攻击，怎能不让他感到伤心和苦恼呢？ 在他感情苦恼的时候，国际奥委会执委、中国代表何振梁给了他鼓励。何振梁在国际奥委会塞维利亚执委会上指出：“十多年来，国际奥委会的工作在萨马兰奇主席的领导下取得了重大成绩，大部分人高兴，小部分则不愿看到。” 何振梁还引用了中国的一句古诗：“木秀于林，风必摧之；堆出于岸，流必湍之。” 萨马兰奇对“木秀于林，风必摧之”这句话十分欣赏，并且把它写进了他1992年7月20日在国际奥委会第99次全体会议开幕式上的发言。他说：“一位来自于一个具有几千年光辉历史并且令我尊敬和热爱的国家的同事对我说，国际奥委会的大树秀于世界体育之林，因此必然要受到从四面八方刮来的狂风的摧残。我可以向各位保证，我们这棵大树根深叶茂，不仅能够经受住狂风的吹袭，而且还会茁壮成长。” 面对众多的期望和外界一些攻击的挑战，7月23日，萨马兰奇在国际奥委会全体委员会议上明确宣布，在1993年他第二次任满之际，将继续竞选三度连任，并且将率领国际奥委会跨入21世纪。 这是他对挑战的回击，也是他对攻击的挑战。权力有时是一项事业成就的关键。他要把握住权力，要把握住现代奥林匹克运动发展的航向。一时的失误，也许会贻误世界历史几十年。 这里没有个人的权欲，有的只是责任感、义务感。国际奥委会的领导位置也曾被某些地区的大国所控制，奥运会也几度被用来作为政治宣传的工具。萨马兰奇希望奥林匹克运动从此少走些弯路，少受些干扰，按照奥林匹克运动的宗旨向前发展。 1993年9月23日国际奥委会第101次全体委员会议在蒙特卡洛召开，会议除了要投票选举2000年奥运会的主办城市外，还要投票选举新的国际奥委会主席。24日经过人会的89名国际奥委会委员秘密投票，萨马兰奇以绝对多数三度当选国际奥委会主席，任期4年。