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| |  Monday, 16 July, 2001, 08:05 GMT 09:05 UK Rogge secures Olympic presidency Rogge (right) takes up world sport's most powerful post Jacques Rogge has won the race to succeed Juan Antonio Samaranch as president of the International Olympic Committee. Rogge, a Belgian doctor, swept to victory in the second round of the election, comfortably beating his main rivals Kim Un-Yong of South Korea and Canadian Dick Pound by over 30 votes. As expected, American lawyer Anita DeFranz was eliminated in the first round, while the fifth candidate, Pal Schmitt of Hungary, also fell in the second round. A natural diplomat, with a reputation for resolving conflict without bloodshed, Rogge oversaw the success that was Sydney 2000, and is also co-ordinating the Athens Games in 2004.
Accepting victory, Rogge said: "My first words are for my IOC colleagues - I thank them for their confidence in me. "I will work very hard with them for the future of the Olympic movement. "I will devote all my energy to defending the credibility of sport, which is under attack by doping, corruption and violence." He also paid tribute to the other candidates, saying: "It has been a long and dignified campaign, but there are no losers."
"I want them by my side because they have many talents." Rogge's first official duty was to present the IOC's highest honour, the Olympic Order in gold, to the outgoing Samaranch. Making the presentation, he said of Samaranch: "This is in recognition of his outstanding merit in the cause of world sport and his faithfulness to the Olympic ideal." Samaranch later added of his successor: "I feel fulfilled. It is a joy to have a credible successor like that. He is very young and he knows sport very well."
The Olympic movement is unlikely to again have a patriarch in the same mould as the Spaniard. He has been the most influential president since Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the Olympic movement, and at the helm since 1980. But Rogge will serve just an eight-year term, renewable only once for a further four years. Impressive margin The Belgian capitalised on strong European backing and setbacks for Pound and Kim to secure his impressive winning margin. Kim was forced to defend himself against allegations of alleged financial incentives offered to voting members. And though cleared by the IOC Ethics Commission, Beijing's victory in the race for the 2008 Games had already made IOC members reluctant to award both major prizes to Asia. Pound meanwhile found himself increasingly caught up in debate over the continuing problems of doping in world sport. To his evident surprise, Samaranch on Sunday described the drugs problem as "a mess" and urged Pound, the head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, to hold an emergency conference this year. | |
 Rogge runner?Will new chief herald new Olympic era?   New Olympic chief  Stepping downHow will Senor Samaranch be remembered?
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