President of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games

The president of the Organising Committee for the Olympic Games is the individual who is in charge of leading the Organising Committee for each Olympic Games. Starting after 1988, the Paralympic Games began occurring after the conclusion of the Olympic Games, organised by the same committee. During the opening and closing ceremonies, the president gives a speech before the IOC and IPC president.

Lists of presidents

Summer Olympic Games

Winter Olympic Games

Summer Youth Olympic Games

Winter Youth Olympic Games

Notable presidents

Presidents of the Olympic Organising Committee have been business executives, athletes, bureaucrats, politicians, and more. Some have gone on to or have served in other high offices:

• Constantine I of Greece, who headed the organising committee for the 1896 Summer Olympics, later served as the King of Greece.

• Pierre de Coubertin, who headed the organising committees for the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics as well as the 1924 Winter Olympics, was the founder of the modern Olympic movement and International Olympic Committee. He served as President of the International Olympic Committee from 1896 to 1925.

• David R. Francis, who headed the organising committee for the 1904 Summer Olympics, served as Governor of Missouri before heading the organising committee. He later briefly served as the United States Ambassador to Russia.

• Joseph Goebbels, who headed the organising committees for the 1936 Winter Olympics and 1936 Summer Olympics, served as Chancellor of Germany for one day in 1945 before committing suicide.

• Haakon VII, who headed the organising committee for the 1952 Winter Olympics, also served as the King of Norway. His daughter, Princess Astrid, Mrs. Ferner, also served as the president of the organising committee, becoming the first woman to ever hold the title (Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki would do the same in 2004).

• Giulio Andreotti, who headed the organising committee for the 1960 Summer Olympics, later served as the Prime Minister of Italy.

• Bruno Kreisky, who headed the organising committee for the 1964 Winter Olympics, later served as the Chancellor of Austria.

• Konstantin Chernenko was the leader of the Soviet Union while also being the president of the 1980 Summer Olympics organising committee.

• Branko Mikulić, who headed the organising committee for the 1984 Winter Olympics, later served as the Prime Minister of Yugoslavia.

• Peter Ueberroth, who headed the organising committee for the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, went on to serve as the Commissioner of Baseball from 1984 to 1989.

• Roh Tae-woo, who headed the organising committee for the 1988 Summer Olympics, later served as the President of South Korea.

• Michel Barnier, who headed of the organising committee for the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, served as the Prime Minister of France in 2024.

• Following the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Mitt Romney ran for Governor of Massachusetts and was elected Governor with nearly 50% of the vote in the election. He served one term as governor. He was the Republican nominee for President of the United States in the 2012 Presidential Election but lost to then-incumbent President Barack Obama. Sixteen years after the Winter Olympics, Romney would go on to be elected Senator for the state of Utah following the 2018 midterm elections.

• Sebastian Coe, who headed the organising committee for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, is now serving as the President of the International Association of Athletics Federations. He also served as the Chairman of the British Olympic Association from 2012 to 2016.

• Yoshirō Mori, who headed the organising committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo until 2021, previously served as Prime Minister of Japan from 2000 to 2001.

Notes

References

External links

• ORGANISING COMMITTEES FOR THE OLYMPIC GAMES