Chapter 18 Chapter 15 The Olympic Games of the Century and the President of the Century

·Sydney Olympic Prelude ·Age Clause ·Leave? ! On August 5, 1996, the closing ceremony of the Atlanta Olympic Games.Atlanta Mayor Campbell solemnly handed the five-ring flag to Sydney Mayor Sutter. Samaranch, who stood aside, applauded warmly with tens of thousands of spectators and athletes. The Olympic five-ring flag arrived in Sydney, Australia, where the 2000 Olympic Games was held, on August 9. Thousands of Sydney citizens welcomed the five-ring flag at the airport and on the streets. After the five-ring flag arrived at Sydney Harbor on the 9th, it was sent by helicopter to the main venue for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, which had broken ground, and then sent to the city center.

An escort team composed of six young athletes was responsible for escorting the five-ring flag. They all wore white sportswear and white gloves. Mayor Sutter said: "I think the arrival of the five-ring flag is a sign that we must seize every day from now on and work hard for the success of the Sydney Olympic Games." In the Atlanta Olympic Games, Australia jumped to the seventh place in the gold medal list with 9 golds, 9 silvers and 23 bronzes. It ranked sixth in total points and fifth in the number of medals after China.Compared with the 10th place in the last Barcelona Olympics with 7 golds, 6 silvers and 11 bronzes, it has been greatly improved, showing its strong competitive strength.

Australia sent a huge lineup of 430 players this time to Atlanta to participate in the Olympic Centennial Ceremony.In addition to handball, they participated in all other 25 competitions. For the Atlanta Olympics, Australia does not seem to have too much extravagant expectations.Its goal is to train the team and strive for good results in the Sydney Olympics.As a spokesperson of the Australian Olympic Committee said: "In this Olympic Games, we will try our best to create sufficient competition opportunities for athletes so that they can better accumulate experience and prepare for the Sydney Olympic Games."

Australia won gold medals in 6 events including equestrian, hockey, rowing, shooting, swimming, and tennis at the Atlanta Olympic Games. It won medals in 14 events. A total of 93 people (teams) entered the top 8 in 17 events.Breaking two Olympic records in men's and women's cycling sprints.These results are more than the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games. Looking at Australia's performance in this Olympic Games, water sports are still an important pillar for them to grab gold and silver.Only swimming, rowing, kayaking, and sailing won 4 gold medals and 23 medals, accounting for 44% and 56% of the total number of gold medals and medals respectively; They each won a gold medal and achieved the expected goal; cycling, kayaking and other strengths performed abnormally and lost the gold medal; track and field and shooting made breakthroughs, which is exciting.

Swimming has always been Australia's traditional strength.There are 34 players in this Olympic team (18 male players and 16 female players), 13 of whom participated in the last Olympic Games.Australian players performed well in the competition, winning 2 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze medals, a total of 12 medals, and 19 people entered the top 8.A group of battle-tested veterans still serve as the main force.World record holders Perkins and O'Neill won gold medals for the Australian team in the men's 1500m freestyle and women's 200m butterfly respectively.The rookie's performance is also good, such as Kowalski won a silver medal in the 1500-meter freestyle and two bronze medals in the 200-meter and 400-meter freestyle.The silver medalist in the men's 100m butterfly is 21-year-old New Year Miller.In addition, the medal-winning events include the men's and women's 4×100-meter medley relay and the women's 4×200-meter freestyle relay.

Rowing is also a traditional strength of Australia. It performed well in the Atlanta Olympics and won two gold medals in the men's quadruple scull without coxswain and the women's double scull without coxswain, as well as men's quadruple sculls, men's lightweight double sculls, women's double 3 bronze medals in lightweight double sculls.This is Australia's best result in a major world competition in recent years. Kayaking is also their dominant item, but they did not perform to their original level in this competition and only won 3 bronze medals. The Australian men's and women's hockey teams are two world powerhouses, especially the women's team, which has been invincible in the world competitions in recent years and has firmly ranked as the world champion.The women's team won gold and the men's team won bronze.

Tennis men's doubles players Woodbridge and Woodford performed extremely well in this Olympic Games and won a gold medal for the Australian team. The shooting team made a major breakthrough in this Olympic Games, winning 2 gold medals and bronze medals, but only won one seventh place in the Barcelona Olympics. A total of 64 track and field athletes were sent to participate in this Olympic Games, and they won 2 silver medals, and 11 of them entered the top 8. Compared with the previous session, the level of track and field has also improved. Cycling is Australia's traditional strength, winning multiple Olympic gold medals. In 1995, his record was even more brilliant, winning 3 golds and 2 bronzes in the World Championships.However, in this Olympic Games, the Australian riders failed to show their former style. They won no gold medals, and all they gained were 1 silver and 4 bronzes.They lost at least 1 or 2 gold medals in this event.

In addition, she also won a bronze medal in women's softball, women's basketball, women's beach volleyball, and weightlifting 108 kg. It is no accident that Australian sports have developed by leaps and bounds in recent years.In order to develop Australia's sports, the Austrian government first gave great financial support. The sports budget of the Australian government in 1996 was 560 million US dollars, a substantial increase over the previous year.The main purpose of increasing the budget is to enable the Australian team to achieve good results in the 1996 Olympic Games and the Sydney Olympic Games.Especially after the Atlanta Olympic Games, the government also allocated sports funds to support the vigorous development and improvement of sports.With the strong support of the government, the Sydney Olympic Committee and the Organizing Committee of the 2000 Olympic Games are even more confident.

To prepare for the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games and the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the Australian government seized the opportunity to introduce world-class coaches and athletes, and use their advanced technology and training methods to improve the competitive level of domestic athletes. In 1995, the Australian government invested 1 million US dollars to purchase the successful experience of the Russian Olympic Gold Medal Project, which includes specific materials such as training, coaches and athletes' food, as well as technical achievements such as testing and analysis.They partnered with Russia to help train top players.

This has achieved great results in the Atlanta Olympic Games, such as shooting, track and field, and weightlifting.The shooting team introduced Russian scientific training methods and hired Russian coaches, which enabled them to achieve a breakthrough of "zero" gold medals in this project. Especially in the flying saucer project, they achieved a major breakthrough of 2 gold medals and 1 bronze medal.In the weightlifting event, in recent years, Bulgarian athlete Pojeta in the 108 kg class has also been introduced. He won a bronze medal in the Atlanta Olympics.Australia used to be weak in this project, but now it has begun to show its signs in the World Series.

Athletics also relied on Russian training methods and other means, and the level of sports in this Olympic Games has increased.From Barcelona's 2 bronze medals to this Olympics, it has reached another level in the medal table.Won two silver medals in the women's 400-meter race and the javelin throw. The president of the Australian Olympic Committee said: "We will challenge the United States, Germany, China and other countries in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. We will make historic breakthroughs in gold medals and medals. Now we must work hard for this goal." He also said that we are not as good as Russia in the theory of training intensity and biological principles, so we cooperated with Russia and bought their 70-year sports training plan, which further consolidated our strengths and achieved great results. It can be greatly improved, and at the same time, the weak points can gradually catch up. In recent years, people in the Australian sports circle have hired some excellent coaches from the former Soviet Union and Eastern European countries, as well as Chinese gymnastics coaches to coach some events. They deeply feel that these coaches have a good training method. The coach's coaching has achieved very good results in the Commonwealth Games last year.They want to use these senior coaches to improve their competitive level in some sports. In order to rapidly improve the level of competitive sports, the Australian government attaches great importance to giving full play to the advantages of sports colleges and training relatively weak projects. The total investment in this plan is more than 130 million Australian dollars. The Australian Olympic Committee cooperated with the Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee and the Australian Sports Commission to make a major breakthrough in the 2000 Olympic Games, sparing no expense and doing everything possible to find talents.They plan to invest in tapping indigenous sports talent.Trained one of the most famous tennis prodigies in Australia among the Aboriginal people.They are currently planning to invest 400,000 Australian dollars to realize the 4-year plan to support Aboriginal people.They are planning to establish an Olympic training center, one is to train promising athletes in the region, and the other is to provide sports equipment for children with poor conditions. It is a long-term plan to start from the foundation of children's sports. Before the Atlanta Olympic Games, they used high technology to develop a vest against hot and humid climate for cyclists.In training in Australia, the coaches and athletes of various sports attach great importance to the close cooperation with sports scientific research personnel.The rapid improvement of Australian competitive sports in recent years is inseparable from their emphasis on scientific training and close cooperation with scientific researchers. In order to motivate outstanding athletes to maintain their special expertise until the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, the Australian Olympic Committee has formulated a reward plan with a total amount of 15.5 million US dollars.Under the program, Atlanta Olympic gold medalists will receive $42,500.This bonus does not include the reward for the athlete's continued development in the special event in the future.All athletes who have won medals in Atlanta have received a fixed amount of bonuses since 1997. Gold medalists receive $22,500; silver medalists receive $13,500; and bronze medalists receive $6,750.If you win a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics, you will receive a $75,000 bonus.The chairman of the Olympic Committee, Kautes, said that this move is to encourage those medal winners to continue to practice and will not retire early because of worries. Australia regards the Atlanta Olympic Games as a great opportunity to train its team and accumulate experience. Its main goal is to make a big splash in the 2000 Olympic Games.As a person in charge of the Australian Olympic Committee said, "In the 2000 Olympic Games, Australia had the right time, place and people. It is entirely possible to win 60 medals, including 20 gold medals." To achieve this goal, The Australian government and the sports world are taking active actions to create another glories in the Sydney Olympic Games. In order to successfully host the 27th Olympic Games and to achieve the medal goal of the Australian Olympic Committee, the city of Sydney sent a delegation of 100 people to Atlanta before the opening of the Atlanta Olympic Games. The members of the delegation included the mayor of Sydney and the Australian Olympic Committee. He is the main person in charge of the Organizing Committee of the Sydney Olympic Games.Hemerlin, head of the Sydney Olympic Organizing Committee, said: "This is a very important exercise for us." Today, the Organizing Committee of the Sydney Olympic Games is summing up the experience of the Atlanta Olympic Games and previous Olympic Games to improve its own plan. In order to avoid a series of problems caused by completely hosting the 2000 Olympic Games by private companies like the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996, the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games Organizing Committee made a major decision on September 8: to withdraw the Woolworth Co., Ltd. Company boss John Allif has appointed New South Wales Olympic and Sports Minister Michael Wright, 43, as the new chairman of the organizing committee to ensure state government control of the 2000 Games. According to the latest plan of the organizing committee, the Sydney organizing committee will be mainly responsible for the organization of the Olympic Games, while the state government will be mainly responsible for the construction of infrastructure and sports venues.As Wright puts it: "The government will build the theaters, and the organizing committee will be in charge of producing good shows." The reason why the organizing committee did this is because they saw serious problems and a series of unnecessary troubles caused by the city of Atlanta completely hosting the Olympic Centennial Celebration by a private company.Elif said that the above-mentioned personnel changes were made after the organizing committee carefully studied the experience and lessons of the Atlanta Olympic Games, in order to ensure that "the organizing committee is united, everyone from the government to the Olympic Games Do your best to be successful.” Wright believes: "In the organization of the Atlanta Olympics, the relationship between private companies and the state government and the city government is not close enough, so a series of problems have arisen." irrelevant. Samaranch expressed his support for the personnel change of the Sydney Organizing Committee, and believed that this was an important step for the success of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games. Wright admitted that there are still some problems within the 15-member organizing committee, but the general direction has been determined, that is, the 2000 Olympic Games will not be hosted by private companies in a purely commercial manner.The biggest challenge Wright is currently facing is how to complete the construction of various sports venues that will involve nearly 10,000 workers on time, including the main Olympic venue.The organizing committee estimates that the construction of the stadium will cost 1.9 billion Australian dollars (about 1.5 billion U.S. dollars), and only the main stadium with 110,000 spectator seats will cost 665 million Australian dollars. It broke ground in August 1996 and is scheduled to be completed in June 1999. Another major problem Wright is currently facing is how to urge the government to thoroughly improve and solve the living conditions of Australia's 300,000 aborigines as soon as possible, so as to prevent them from "causing trouble" during the Olympic Games. Improving the living conditions of Australian aborigines is an old problem that has plagued the Austrian government for many years.Although the government has spent a lot of energy and invested a lot of money, this problem has not been solved well.In some remote areas, the living conditions of Indigenous Australians are "nowhere near as good as in third world countries", as Aboriginal Personnel Minister John Heron has admitted. Queensland Housing Minister Ray Connor recently visited some Aboriginal-inhabited areas in northern Queensland and found Aboriginal life to be surprising. Connor said: "When we see a family of six living in a 12-square-meter cabin, we absolutely cannot imagine this happening in Australia." But Herron said the government was not surprised by the living conditions of Aboriginal people, but improvements would take time. When a reporter asked whether the government hoped to take measures to completely solve the problem before the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, Heron said frankly: "This is unlikely because there is a lot of work to be done, including water and electricity, roads, housing and garbage disposal, etc. .” It is reported that some indigenous leaders have issued a warning that protest marches will be held during the 2000 Olympic Games to demand that the government pay more attention to the living conditions of the indigenous people. Connor pointed out that when the 2000 Sydney Olympics arrive, the world's focus will be on Australia.He acknowledged that the status quo of Aboriginal life in Queensland would embarrass Australia in front of the world. "We've got less than four years to improve everything," Connor said. Connor said at least $236 million would be needed to make a "substantial difference" in the lives of Aboriginal people.Therefore, he called on all parties to work together towards this goal. However, the Australian government announced on August 20, 1996 that the government's investment in Aboriginal training programs from 1966 to 1997 has been reduced. This reduction has led to protest marches held by Aboriginal people in the Australian capital. Wright is currently active, urging the relevant government departments to formulate plans as soon as possible to properly solve the living conditions of the aborigines and completely eliminate the hidden dangers of the 2000 Olympic Games.This is not only Wright's hope, but also the voice of the International Olympic Committee and all people who look forward to a peaceful Olympic Games of the century. The latest news: "Xinhua News Agency, April 7th", Michael Wright, chairman of the Sydney Olympic Games Organizing Committee, resigned a few days ago. The new chairman has nothing to do with the huge financial difficulties facing the organizing committee. Sports fans all over the world are looking forward to the exciting news from the kangaroo land, and even more hope that the 2000 Olympic Games of the century will bring great joy to the whole world. The 103rd General Committee Meeting of the International Olympic Committee in 1995 was held in Budapest, the capital of Hungary, from June 14 to 18. Due to the importance of the topic, more than 600 journalists from various countries came to cover it. Usually, the annual meeting of the International Olympic Committee discusses some routine matters: the addition of executive committee members and vice presidents, occasional addition of members, and listening to reports on the preparations for the next Summer and Winter Games, only when the Olympic host city is elected Let's be more lively, the competition of the bidding cities and the final voting are always the topics that people talk about endlessly.But since the question of whether to change the age limit of committee members was inserted this year, the location of the 19th Winter Games in 2002 has become less prominent in comparison with this annual meeting. The issue of changing the age limit for committee members is actually a question of whether President Samaranch can be re-elected after 1997.In the past, there was no age limit for members of the International Olympic Committee, and they were all tenure. In 1966, the 74th General Committee Meeting of the International Olympic Committee in Rome decided that the members elected thereafter must retire when they reach the age of 72. In 1985, the Berlin Plenum decided to extend the retirement age to 75 years old, that is, "any member must retire at the end of the year when he or she reaches the age of 75, except those elected before 1966." According to this regulation, only 11 of the existing committee members were elected before 1966, and all of them have been turned into life-long committee members, and the others will retire at the age of 75.Samaranch began serving as a member in 1966, and he was 75 years old in July 1995.According to regulations, he should retire in 1997 when the chairman's term expires. Since Samaranch assumed the presidency, he has carried out many bold reforms, which have greatly improved the Olympic movement and greatly enhanced the prestige of the International Olympic Committee.Although Samaranch said in 1994 that he would retire at the end of his term in 1997, people have talked about his successor for several years, and some members are eager to try.But the vast majority of members still believe that only Samaranch is the leader with the highest prestige, the most ability to unite the majority, and the least controversial leader. In 1992, two British journalists, representing part of the Anglo-Saxon forces, wrote the book "Men Under the Five Rings", attacking Samaranch and the International Olympic Committee.Later, the International Olympic Committee filed a lawsuit in the Lausanne court. After the court investigation and trial, the two British journalists finally lost the lawsuit, which failed to shake the prestige and unity of the International Olympic Committee.A considerable number of committee members asked Samaranch to be re-elected in different ways to preside over the twenty-seventh Olympic Games in 2000, which will cross the century.Many of them demanded that the retirement age limit be amended. For such a request, Samaranch generally said that in principle he would retire in 1997, but he did not say anything. On April 13, 1995, Samaranch decided to send a letter to solicit the opinions of the committee members. The letter provided four options.Due to the importance of the matter, all members responded.The choices, and the responses received, were: ——Abolish the age limit for all committee members, supported by 27 people ——Abolish the term of office of the chairman, 22 people support - Increase age limit to 78, 21 back ——Maintain the age of 75, supported by 7 people (18 votes that made more than one choice, not counted) The Executive Committee held before this plenary session studied the feedback.The Executive Committee believes that although the first three opinions are scattered, they accounted for 70 votes in total, indicating that most people are in favor of amending the regulations on the retirement age and length of service in the "Olympic Charter". However, this is only an advisory opinion and has no legal effect. When discussing at the plenary session, vote first on whether to amend the current regulations. If the majority agrees, secret ballots will be held on the first three revisions. According to the method of electing the host city of the Olympic Games, the opinions with fewer votes will be eliminated first. The plenary meeting on the 15th lasted for more than 3 hours.It was first decided by a secret vote of 62 to 27 to change the age rules.Then votes were held on the three proposals for amending the regulations. The three proposals received 35, 27 and 24 votes respectively (2 blank votes and 1 abstention). The proposal to raise the retirement age to 78 was eliminated.In the third round, the remaining first two plans were voted on, and the result was 47 to 35 votes (4 blank votes, 1 invalid vote, 1 abstention), and the plan to abolish the chairman's term of office was rejected.So the proposal to revise the articles of association to cancel the age limit was voted on, and the result was 57 to 31 votes (invalid votes). Since it was 2 votes less than the 2/3 majority votes stipulated in the articles of association, the motion to cancel the age limit for all committee members failed.Some committee members said that this reflected that the committee members were truly independent and democratic, which meant that the majority of committee members did not agree that there would be no age limit.Some outsiders thought this was a setback, and even some people who opposed Samaranch happily cheered the end of the Samaranch era. However, most of the committee members advocate the revision of the age limit provisions of the charter and hope that Samaranch will be re-elected. They believe that at present, apart from him, there is no truly prestigious, talented and secure leader in the IOC.So everyone outside the meeting continued to deliberate whether to wait until next year's plenary session to resolve it or to resolve it this time?How to modify the existing articles so that everyone is satisfied and the chairman can be re-elected according to the constitution?It turned out that some people wanted the most respected committee member to ask for the re-election of the chairman in the speech at the end of the plenary session (in the past, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg made a speech). Later, Brazilian committee member and FIFA president Havelange took the lead, and Italian committee member and IAAF president Nebbiolo teamed up with Mexican committee members and National Olympic Committee President Rania, and 70 committee members jointly re-proposed, changing the original statute of retirement at the age of 75 to: whether to retire at the age of 75 can be determined by each person according to his own situation decision, but must retire at the age of 80.This written proposal was handed over to the Executive Committee before the meeting adjourned on the afternoon of the 17th. On the morning of the 18th, the executive committee discussed the proposal and believed that the floating plan from 75 to 80 years old was too complicated. It suggested that only 80 years old should be changed as the final retirement age, and the opinions of all members were solicited.A secret ballot was proposed, but the majority believed that there was already 70 signatures and that there was no need for a secret ballot. At the plenary meeting on the 18th, some people still proposed a secret ballot, but only 12 votes were in favor (the charter stipulates that only a quarter of the participants request a secret ballot).In the final show of hands, except for 12 votes against and 1 abstention, all were in favor of extending the retirement age to 80.In this way, due to the great prestige of Chairman Samaranch himself, the proposal to revise the age limit was finally passed after several days of twists and turns inside and outside the venue. It is estimated that when Chairman Samaranch's term expires in 1997, if he is healthy and intends to run for office, no one will come out to compete with him.It is likely that he will be willing to be re-elected until 2001, and will preside over the century-old Sydney Olympic Games as the glorious end of his Olympic career. The IOC has grown into a huge international institution with significant social, political and cultural influence. In 1996, the number of members of the International Olympic Committee reached 197, surpassing the 183 members of the United Nations and becoming the international organization with the largest number of members in the world.Although people trust the incumbent chairman with the longest tenure and the most outstanding achievements, it is also a fact that he is old. How to find and train a reliable and outstanding successor in the past few years is a matter of concern to everyone and Samaranch himself. Faced with the trust of the IOC members and the fact that he is old, Samaranch is also caught in a dilemma.Let me say no, I am really old, and because of my busy work, I seldom have time to reunite with my family. Now it is time to take care of my old age and enjoy the family happiness.Say back, Samaranch is indeed reluctant to part with the Olympic ideal for which he has fought for many years.Recalling that since I became the president of the International Olympic Committee in 1980, the Los Angeles, Seoul, and Barcelona Olympic Games have been more successful than the previous ones. Although the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games had many unsatisfactory places, it was the first among 197 members. A general meeting. After 1980, many gratifying changes took place in the Olympic movement: the door of the Olympic Games was opened to professional athletes, which significantly improved the level of competition; the International Olympic Committee added female members, ending the situation of men's domination of the world (by July 17, 1996 The 108th General Committee of the International Olympic Committee elected Ms. Lu Shengrong from China as a member, and the International Olympic Committee has 10 women members); the organic combination of business and sports has greatly promoted the development of sports; the Olympic Games have been adjusted increase, the whole structure tends to be more reasonable. Coubertin is the revivalist and pioneer of the modern Olympic movement.He proposes an ideal that borders on aestheticism.Samaranch is an innovator of the Olympic movement and a man of action. While he pursues his ideals, he dares to face the reality, work hard and keep pursuing. Among the more than 197 member countries and regions of the International Olympic Committee, he has visited all countries and regions except Afghanistan, with a journey of several million kilometers.He met the heads of governments of many countries, including Chinese leaders Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, Reagan, Bush and Clinton in the United States, Brezhnev, Gorbachev and Yeltsin in the former Soviet Union, and Giscard d'Estaing in France And Mitterrand, Margaret Thatcher in Britain, Andreotti in Italy, the Pope in Rome, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Holland.The kings of Morocco, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and other countries, the emperor of Japan, Mubarak of Egypt, Ceausescu of Romania, Indira Gandhi of India, Rafsanjani of Iran, Gaddafi of Libya, Cuba Castro in the former German Democratic Republic, Honecker in the former German Democratic Republic, Kim Il Sung in North Korea, Emir in Kuwait, Mandela in South Africa and so on. With his outstanding political and diplomatic skills, Samaranch ensured that the 23rd, 24th, 25th and 26th Olympic Games were bigger and more successful than the previous ones. He made great contributions to the international sports cause and won the Widely respected and loved worldwide.He has won the Medal of Honor issued by the governments of more than a dozen countries; he has been awarded the "Honorary Doctorate" degree by famous universities in Canada, Hungary, Spain and Japan; in 1982, he was awarded the highest honor in the American sports circle - the Academy of Sports Award; in 1990 During the Beijing Asian Games, he was awarded the title of "Honorary Professor" of Peking University; in October 1996, he was awarded the "Presidential Award" of Uzbekistan-this award was awarded to foreigners for the first time since its establishment. After more than 20 years of unswerving pursuit, Samaranch's Olympic ideal has been greatly sublimated. Even if he wants to stay in his original position, it is not for his own selfish desires at all-because he has already got everything: honor , status, money.He once said, "I don't want to seek power for myself, only for the Olympic movement, because the president of the Olympic Committee has power, but I want to do my duty and promote the Olympic ideal." In October 1996, Samaranch announced during his visit to Copenhagen, the capital of Denmark, that he would issue a communiqué in March 1997 to decide whether to continue to run for re-election as the President of the International Olympic Committee. "My decision will depend on my health, the wishes of the NOCs and my family," Samaranch said. We expect Samaranch to say: "I decided to stay." He did stay. The latest news: On February 26, 1997, IOC President Samaranch expressed his intention to run for re-election in an interview with Swiss Radio. Samaranch said he would seek a fifth term if he was found to be healthy in a few days' time.It is reported that Samaranch will formally announce his decision to run for re-election in the next few days. Samaranch, who is 77 years old, told reporters: "I know that I am old, and the work of the chairman requires constant travel. Therefore, I must first have a thorough understanding of my physical condition. As long as my body allows, I will be a candidate again." Samaranch's unofficial answer to reporters' questions made a large number of potential candidates for the IOC presidency lose their chance, including Nebbiolo, the highly respected IAAF president. "Xinhua News Agency, March 5th", the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee requested the current President of the International Olympic Committee Samaranch to be re-elected as President on March 5th, and Samaranch gladly accepted this request. "It is not difficult to say 'yes' to such a request," said Samaranch, who has been IOC president since 1980. At the 105th General Assembly of the International Olympic Committee in September this year, Samaranch will be formally re-elected as the President of the International Olympic Committee. International Olympic Committee Vice President Mark Hodler said that the Executive Committee decided to let Samaranch continue to serve as the President of the International Olympic Committee through a secret ballot."We are delighted that he has accepted the request of the executive committee," Hodler said. Samaranch, who will be 77 years old in July this year, will lead the IOC into the next century, and his fifth term will end in 2001. Antonio Samaranch--The Life and Memorabilia of Antonio Samaranch Antonio Samaranch Life and Events Biography of Samaranch 1920 Juan Antonio Samaranch was born at No. 28, Irun Street, Barcelona. ·In 1931, Samaranch Co., Ltd. was established. 1939 Military service in Zamora. In 1940, he entered the Barcelona Graduate School for further studies, where the accountant certificate obtained at the Experimental Institute before the war was confirmed. ·In 1943, he served as the coach of the roller skating team of the Royal Spanish Sports Club.For the first time, he published a newsletter in the "News" under the pseudonym of Sticker. ·In 1945, he became the chairman of Mavisi Company. ·In 1946, he represented Spain at the International Roller Hockey Federation Conference held in Montreux, Switzerland.The International Roller Hockey Federation accepts Spain as a member. ·In 1954, he became the vice-chairman of the International Roller Hockey Federation.Elected as an official of the City of Barcelona.Established the Spanish Roller Hockey Association and served as its president. · In 1955, he was elected as MP of Barcelona. Married to Maria Teresa Salisakis Roe on December 1. Elected as a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee in 1956 ·In 1961, the Barcelona Nautical Salon was established.No longer serves as an official of the City of Barcelona. ·On ​​April 27, 1966, he was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee in Rome.Succeeds Elora Olazo as president of the Spanish Sports Council. · In 1967, he served as the chairman of the Spanish Olympic Committee and no longer served as a member of Barcelona. ·In 1968, he was in charge of the Protocol Department of the International Olympic Committee. In 1970, he was elected as the executive member of the International Olympic Committee. · On July 17, 1973, he became the speaker of Barcelona. · In 1974, he was elected vice-president of the International Olympic Committee. · June 10, 1977 was appointed as the first Spanish ambassador to the Soviet Union. On July 17, he ceased to serve as the speaker of Barcelona. ·On ​​July 16, 1980, he was elected as the President of the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne for a term of 8 years. ·In 1981, the word "amateur" disappeared from the "Olympic Charter". · On July 28, 1984, he hosted the 23rd Olympic Games in Los Angeles. ·September 17, 1988 presided over the 24th Olympic Games in Seoul. · On August 30, 1989, he was re-elected as the President of the International Olympic Committee in Puerto Rico for a term of 4 years. · On July 25, 1992, he hosted the 25th Olympic Games in Barcelona. · On September 24, 1993, he was elected as the President of the International Olympic Committee for the third time in Monte Carlo for a term of 4 years. · On June 18, 1995, the 103rd Plenary Session of the International Olympic Committee decided to extend the retirement age of members to 80 years old. ·July 20, 1996 presided over the 26th Olympic Games in Atlanta.