IOC's honorary life president Juan Antonio Samaranch was taken to the Hospital Clinico in Madrid last Wednesday after a dizzy spell suffered during the presentation of a fund raising event organized by the Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas and the professional tennis player Rafael Nadal.
According to Madrid's Clinico San Carlos doctor, Samaranch was admitted with cardiovascular problems, specifically for hypertension. The 87 years old Samaranch had felt unwell lately, actually he has been suffering high blood pressure since 1991 when he was hospitalized in Lausanne, Switzerland diagnosed with "extreme fatigue." Just a month later he was hospitalized again in Barcelona for arterial hypertension when organizing the IOC Congress in Moscow and stayed almost 11 months hospitalized. This time he responded well to the treatment and after two days in the Madrid's hospital he was already recovering and ready to go home. However he will have to rest some days at home.
Samaranch's history in the IOC goes back to 1968 when he started as a member of head of Protocol (1968-1975, 1979-1980) years later he became part of the Executive Board (1970-1978, 1979-2001) in 1974 until 1978 he was selected as a Vice President to finally get the Presidency in 1980 until 2001 year in which he stopped applying for the presidency and was succeeded by Jacques Rogee. The same year in July, he was named Honorary President for Life of the International Olympic Committee. Recently, he has been pushing Madrid's bid to host the Olympics and is often present at high-profile events such as Wednesday's presentation and frequently attends IOC events.
The IOC is an international non-governmental and non-profit organization and the creator of the Olympic Movement. It exists to serve as an umbrella organization of the Olympic Movement.
Samaranch's support to the organization has been more than helpful; he was undoubtedly the financial rescue of the IOC when it was in financial crisis during 1970, therefore he is considered as the key person of the International Olympic Committee success. He was actually awarded the gold Olympic order as he stood down after 21 years at the head of the Olympic movement.
Moreover, the delegates of the organization approved the proposal to rename the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, as the Samaranch Museum.
