No individual has had a greater impact on the modern sports movement than Samaranch.
When Samaranch took over the Olympic presidency, most commentators at the time were writing the obituary of the Olympics – saying that they had become too political, too costly and too out of touch to survive. So great did the problems look, that Samaranch himself was pessimistic about the future and within weeks of taking on the presidency thought about resigning,
Outside of the IOC, especially within sections of the Anglo Saxon media and the US Government, Samaranch was often misunderstood.
Published Financial Times, Sports Pro