MOSCOW — Juan Antonio Samaranch opened the final general assembly of his IOC presidency Thursday, saying he felt “great emotion” as he finishes his term in the city where it started 21 years ago.
Samaranch looked back on his presidency in a speech marking the opening of the 112th International Olympic Committee session, a glittering ceremony at the Bolshoi Theater attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin and other dignitaries.
The event came the day before the IOC selects the host city for the 2008 Olympics and four days before Samaranch steps down as the IOC elects the eighth president in its 107-year history.
“It is with great emotion that I take the floor here today,” he said, noting he had been elected president in Moscow on July 16, 1980, when he was Spain’s ambassador to the Soviet Union.
“This Moscow session is, for my part, an historic one, given that 21 years after my election, in the same city and on the same day, we will proceed to elect my successor among the five candidates.”
Kim Un-yong of South Korea, Jacques Rogge of Belgium, Dick Pound of Canada, Anita DeFrantz of the United States and Pal Schmitt of Hungary are the presidential contenders.
Samaranch noted that 10 Olympic Games have been held during his presidency.
“I am delighted that all these games have been a great success, even economically for the Olympic movement,” he said. “You will, however, agree with me that the games of the XXVII Olympiad in Sydney, Australia, were the best ever. I would like, once again, to thank and congratulate the Australian people, for having opened the door of the year 2000 with such an exemplary success.”
Samaranch said preparations for next year’s Winter Games in Salt Lake City, the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, and the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, were “on the right track, and there is no doubt that they will be crowned with success.”
He said the Olympic movement is leading the fight against performance-enhancing drugs and cited the wrk of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“We have come a long way since 1894 to the present time, and our path has been strewn with pitfalls that have had to be avoided,” Samaranch said, without specifying the problems.
He said the Olympics were financially secure through 2012, thanks to multibillion-dollar TV rights deals and praised the policy of keeping the games on free, over-the-air TV.
“Throughout my presidency I have endeavored to build a united Olympic movement,” he said. “I am aware, nevertheless, that this unity is fragile, and that it must be constantly protected. That is the key to our success. I therefore urge the new president of the IOC to do likewise. For, if it is not united, the Olympic movement cannot flourish.”
Samaranch also got in a dig at his critics, saying, “To be often criticized has certainly been beneficial. It is perhaps, thanks to them, that I have remained as president for so long.”
