Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs
Samaranch in 2018
Born (1959-11-01) November 1, 1959
Barcelona, Spain
Alma materUniversity of Barcelona
New York University
Occupation(s)Sports executive, financial analyst
SpouseCristina Bigelli
Children4
Parents

Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs (born 1 November 1959) is a Spanish sports executive and financial analyst who currently serves as the vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).[1][2][3] He is the son of former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.[4]

Early life

Samaranch was born on 1 November 1959 in Barcelona, Spain, the only son of María Teresa Salisachs and Juan Antonio Samaranch.[4][5][1] He has one sister, María Teresa.[6] His father was Minister of Sports under Franco from 1967 to 1971 and president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001.[3][7][8] The family spent some time living in Moscow, Soviet Union while Samaranch the elder served as a diplomat following the restoration of democracy in Spain.[3]

Samranch attended University of Barcelona, where he studied industrial engineering, and earned his MBA from New York University (NYU) in 1986.[9][8][10][1][11] He previously served as the regional leader for NYU's Stern School of Business alumni group in Spain.[11]

Career

Before earning his MBA, Samaranch worked as a perfume salesman for International Flavors & Fragrances for two and a half years.[1] After graduating from NYU in 1986, he worked for three years as an associate at First Boston Corporation in New York, then served as a partner and as the vice president of corporate finance for S. G. Warburg & Co. in London.[10][1] In 1991, he co-founded GBS Finanzas.[9][1][2] In 1996, he became vice president of the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne (UIPM) and in 2001, the same year his father retired, was elected as a member of the IOC.[1][12][13][14] He served on the Organizing Committees for the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.[15][4] In 2015, Samaranch was appointed president of the Summit Shopping, Tourism and Economy committee, which focused on increasing the "number of quality visitors and tourists in Spain and Madrid."[16] He was elected vice president of the IOC in 2016, where he served on the Oswald Commission, which made decisions about Russian athletes following the Summer Olympics doping scandal.[17][4][18] He finished his four year term as VP of IOC in 2020.[19][12]

Samaranch established the Samaranch Foundation in Beijing, China in 2012 in honor of his late father.[20] The organization "aims to promote sport in China" and encourages good relations between China and Spain.[13] Initial funding came from the Samaranch family, IOC, Chinese Olympic Committee, Beijing Olympic City Development Association, Spanish government, Barcelona's government, Anta Sports, Samsung China, Tibet Spring, China Post, Beijing Tourism Group, Taishan Sports, and La Caixa.[20][21]

In February 2013, the IOC voted to eliminate one sport from the Olympics. Although many experts predicted that the pentathlon would be removed due to its low popularity, wrestling, despite having a larger athlete and fan base, was removed instead. This was to start with the 2020 Summer Olympics.[22][23] Samaranch was largely regarded as a major player in the decision, in part because of his conflict of interest with the UIPM, which would be damaged with the elimination of the pentathlon.[24][22][1][12] By September, wrestling had been reinstated on grounds of its long history at the Olympics.[25]

In 2019, Samaranch received an honorary doctorate from Handong Global University in South Korea.[9][26] As of 2022, Samaranch had been reelected as the IOC vice president, was on the IOC's Board of Directors, was a member of the Spanish Olympic Committee, and was chairman of the Organizing Committee for Beijing 2022.[4][27][2]

In 2020, Samaranch was firm in his belief that the Olympics should continue regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic, albeit with necessary restrictions and precautions, even if the vaccine did not become available before the event.[28] Historically, Samaranch has supported the candidacy of Madrid as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics as well as Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics despite experts' assertions that it would be the "most unsustainable games of all time" due to the amount of artificial snow needed.[29][13] He was also a major proponent of holding the 2030 Winter Olympics in Barcelona-Pyrenees but the bid was officially pulled in June 2022 due to a lack of agreement between the governments of Aragon and Catalonia.[30][31][15][32]

Personal life

Samaranch is married to Italian socialite Cristina Bigelli and together they have four children: Juan, Alessia, Matteo, and Allegra.[33][8][5] Alessia is married to French financier Hadrien Forterre.[5] Samaranch speaks Spanish, Catalan, Italian, French, and English.[1] He and his family live in Madrid.[32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Juan Antonio Ssamaranch Salisachs" (PDF). COIIM (in Spanish). No. 61. Madrid, Spain. 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 "Juan Antonio Samaranch, elegido nuevo vicepresidente del COI" (in Spanish). El Espanol. 19 February 2022. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  3. 1 2 3 Andreu, Raul (13 March 2022). "Samaranch: "Pirineos 2030 no puede estar sometido a los vaivenes políticos"" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Saborit, Sergi (3 May 2022). "JUAN A. SAMARANCH ESTRENA 'MOMENTS ESTEL·LARS', EL PRIMER PODCAST DEL THE NEW BARCELONA POST" (in Spanish). The New Barcelona Post. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 Verbo, Eduardo (1 July 2022). "LA HISTORIA DEL VESTIDO CON EL QUE ALESSIA SAMARANCH HOMENAJEA A SU ABUELA, BIBIS SALISACHS, LA GRAN 'INFLUENCER' DEL SIGLO XX" (in Spanish). Hola. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  6. ↑ Salzar, Jo-Ryan (23 April 2010). "Juan Antonio Samaranch, 1920-2010: Forgive His Flaws, Honor His Deeds". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  7. ↑ Rondina, Steven (10 September 2013). "IOC Brings Back Wrestling, Embarrasses Itself, Shows Corruption". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  8. 1 2 3 Rama, Borja (19 November 2015). "Samaranch: "He jugado al tenis con Nadal y montado en bici con Indurain"" (in Spanish). El Espanol. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  9. 1 2 3 "Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch". International Olympic Committee. n.d. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  10. 1 2 "Juan Antonio Samaranch" (in Spanish). Palco23. n.d. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  11. 1 2 "Catching Up With... the NYU Stern Barcelona 2009 Host Committee". NYU. n.d. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 "Samaranch deja la Ejecutiva del COI por fin de mandato" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 17 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 Lill, Felix (10 February 2022). "Symbol für die Korruption im Weltsport: Die mächtige IOC-Familie Samaranch" (in German). Aargauer Zeitung. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  14. ↑ Owen, David (30 August 2016). "David Owen: Juanito's way - have we underestimated Samaranch the younger?". Insidie the Games. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  15. 1 2 Andreu, RAÚL (25 September 2013). "Samaranch advierte a Barcelona'2022" (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Juan Antonio Samaranch, nombrado presidente del Comité Organizador del Summit Shopping" (in Spanish). Revista Gran Hotel. 13 October 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  17. ↑ "Samaranch Salisachs, en el nombre del padre" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  18. ↑ Pallas, Joan Josep (12 August 2017). ""Es una guerra sin concesiones"" (in Spanish). La Vanguardia. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  19. ↑ Bull, Andy (23 October 2018). "Nobody can afford to host the Olympics but at the IOC the largesse never stops". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  20. 1 2 "A passionf for sports, A love for China - Samaranch Foundation founded in Beijing". Samaranch Foundation. 13 July 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  21. ↑ Waltz, Mike; Wexton, Jennifer (3 February 2022). "The IOC's Rot Runs Deep. It Needs to be Reformed from Top to Bottom - Opinion". Newsweek. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  22. 1 2 "Body Slam for Wrestling: Sport Cut From Olympics". NPR. 13 February 2013. Archived from the original on 13 February 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  23. ↑ Mitchell, Houston (12 February 2013). "Former IOC president's son is modern pentathlon vice president". LA Times. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  24. ↑ Miller, Bryce (24 April 2013). "Modern pentathlon has worked to stay in Games". USA Today. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  25. ↑ "Wrestling reinstated for 2020 Games". ESPN. 8 September 2013. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  26. ↑ 영문 관리자 (29 May 2019). "Handong Global University, Confers Honorary Doctorate Degree to Vice President Samaranch of IOC". Handong Global University. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
  27. ↑ Williams, George (19 February 2022). "Juan Antonio Samaranch, new vice president of the IOC". Sports Finding. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  28. ↑ "Samaranch: "Creemos que sin vacuna también habrá Juegos"" (in Spanish). AS. 17 November 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  29. ↑ "Los ingresos del COI en los Juegos de Madrid estarían libres de impuestos" (in Spanish). Europa Press. 7 May 2009. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  30. ↑ Palmer, Dan (22 June 2022). "Pyrenees-Barcelona bid for 2030 Winter Olympics officially scrapped after weeks of infighting". Inside the Games. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  31. ↑ Hernández, Miguel (17 May 2022). "Samaranch y Pere Mirؚó esperan un acuerdo para salvar Proyecto Olímpico Pirineos 2030" (in Spanish). Around the Rings. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  32. 1 2 Aira, Toni (19 May 2022). "¿QUÉ HACE UN VICEPRESIDENTE (DEL COI)?" (in Spanish). The New Barcelona Post. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
  33. ↑ ""En el CIO sabemos bien dónde mirar"" (in Spanish). El Mundo. 2012. Retrieved 16 July 2022.
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