Juan Antonio Samaranch passes away

The lifelong honorary president of the International Olympic

Committee, who led the organization for more than 20 years, has died
aged 89, RIA NOVOSTI reports citing France Presse.
On Tuesday the outstanding figure of the Olympic movement was placed
// in a life-support ward in Barcelona's 'Quiron' hospital due to
critical cardial problems.

Juan Antonia Samaranch led the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He was replaced
by the present head of the committee, Jacques Rogge. After his
retirement, the Spaniard was elected lifelong honorary president of
the IOC.

During the last years of his life he experienced serious health problems.
In 2001, after a IOC session in Moscow, he spent 11 days in a clinic
in Switzerland with a diagnosis of 'extreme overexertion'. In 2009 he
was put into hospital for a check-up in Monaco. The media reported
that he had suffered a heart attack, but his representative did not
confirm this information.

On Tuesday, his son, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, told
journalists that his father's condition was "difficult but stable" and
that he was "under constant medical observation".