Rogge To Run Again For IOC Presidency

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge has declared his intention to run again for a second term of office of four years ahead of the governing body’s presidential elections next year.

IOC spokeswoman Emmanuelle Moreau said the 66-year-old Rogge, initially elected in 2001 for an eight-year term, had sent a letter to all members saying he would run for a second term during the election to be held next year in Copenhagen, Denmark.

No other IOC member has announced their intention to run for the position of president and it is thought that Rogge is likely to stand unopposed.

Rogge had said success or failure of this summer’s Beijing Olympics would largely dictate his decision on running again.

Despite issues over China’s human rights record, the Beijing Games turned out to be a financial success for the IOC, whose revenues are set to continue to grow into the next four-year period despite the global economic downturn.

Rogge, a Belgian, succeeded Juan Antonio Samaranch as only the eighth IOC President since the organisation was founded in 1894, two years prior to the first modern Games.

His second term, should he win, will only be for four years following changes to the duration of the president’s term since the time of Samaranch, who spent 21 years as IOC chief.

If he wins his second term he will be in charge for two more Games – the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and the London 2012 Summer Games.

Rogge has led the IOC’s tough stance against doping in sport calling for stiffer sentences, more tests and pursuing the athletes’ entourage to stamp out illegal drug-taking that has repeatedly marred top performances at the Games.

The Belgian is also responsible for creating the Youth Olympic Games, a tool aimed at attracting a new generation of future Olympians and a younger global audience – the first edition of which will be held in 2010.

An orthopaedic surgeon by profession, Rogge has a 40-year involvement with the Olympics, as a sportsman, a national Olympic team official and as an IOC member since 1991.

He also competed in three editions of the Games as a yachtsman from 1968 to 1976 and played rugby for Belgium.