Jacques, Count Rogge KCMG (May 2, 1942 in Ghent; August 29, 2021 in Deinze) was a Belgian sports official. From 2001 to 2013, he was President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
After completing his schooling at Sint-Barbaracollege, a Jesuit college in Ghent, Jacques Rogge studied at Ghent University, where he earned a doctorate in orthopedic surgery. He competed in sailing at the 1968, 1972, and 1976 Summer Olympics, achieving his best finish of 14th in the 1972 Finn Dinghy. He also played for the Belgian national rugby team.
In 1991, he became a member of the IOC and President of the Belgian National Olympic Committee. On July 16, 2001, at the 112th IOC General Assembly in Moscow, he was elected as the eighth President of the IOC, succeeding Juan Antonio Samaranch, for an initial term of eight years. The 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City were his first as IOC President, and that year he was also knighted by King Albert II of Belgium; his title was that of Comte (French) or Graaf (Dutch).
One of the core principles of his policy was limiting the number of Olympic participants to 10,000. He also campaigned against the increasing gigantism of construction projects and against commercialization.
On October 9, 2009, Jacques Rogge was re-elected for a second four-year term at the 121st IOC General Assembly in Copenhagen. A re-candidacy in 2013 was not permitted under the IOC Statutes. Thomas Bach, a German, was elected Rogge’s successor.
Jacques Rogge was married and had two children. He died at the end of August 2021 at the age of 79.
