國際奧委會終身榮譽主席薩馬蘭奇去世,享年89歲

【英文原文】

Juan Antonio Samaranch, a former International Olympic Committee president, died Wednesday. He was 89.
The Quiron Hospital in Barcelona said Samaranch died after being admitted with heart problems.
Samaranch headed the IOC from 1980 to 2001. He retired as the second-longest serving president in the history of the IOC. He was succeeded by current president Jacques Rogge.
Samaranch was a reserved but shrewd dealmaker whose 21-year term was marked by the unprecedented growth of the Olympics and the Salt Lake City corruption scandal.
The former Spanish diplomat was considered one of the defining presidents of the IOC for building the committee into a powerful global body and firmly establishing the Olympics as a world force.
The Samaranch era spanned political boycotts, the end of amateurism, the explosion of commercialization, a boom in the popularity of the games, the scourge of doping, and the Salt Lake crisis.
Ten IOC members resigned or were expelled for accepting improper inducements from the Salt Lake bid committee. Samaranch then pushed through a series of reforms to clean up the IOC, including a ban on member visits to bid cities.
When Samaranch came to power in 1980, the IOC was virtually bankrupt and the Olympics were battered by boycotts, terrorism and financial troubles.
When he left, the IOC's coffers were bulging from billions of dollars in commercial revenues, the boycott era was over, and the games were entrenched as the world's favorite sports festival.
Even in retirement, Samaranch remained active in Olympic circles and tried to help Madrid secure the 2012 and 2016 Games. Madrid finished third behind winner London and Paris for the 2012 Olympics, and second to Rio de Janeiro for 2016.
Despite the advancing age and medical troubles, Samaranch continued to travel to IOC meetings around the world. He looked increasingly frail in recent months. Attending the IOC session at the Winter Games in Vancouver in February, he walked with the aid of a female assistant.

【中文譯文】

前國際奧林匹克委員會主席胡安·安東尼奧·薩馬蘭奇於週三去世，享年89歲。
巴塞羅那的吉隆醫院宣佈薩馬蘭奇是因爲心臟問題醫治無效去世的。
薩馬蘭奇在1980年到2001年間執掌國際奧委會。他是國際奧委會歷史上任期第二長的主席。他的繼任者就是現任奧委會主席傑克斯·羅格。
薩馬蘭奇是一位保守而又精明的生意人。在他21年的任期內，奧林匹克運動得到了史無前例的發展壯大，不過也發生了鹽湖城這樣的腐敗醜聞。

這位前西班牙外交官被認爲是國際奧委會劃時代的主席之一，他把奧委會打造成了一個強大的全球組織，把奧林匹克運動發展成一股穩定的世界力量。
薩馬蘭奇的時代經歷了政治抵制、非職業化時代的完結、商業化的擴張、參賽人數的爆炸、興奮劑災難以及鹽湖城危機。
有十位國際奧委會成員因接受鹽湖城申辦方不恰當的贈與而辭職或被開除。在那之後，薩馬蘭奇就推行了一系列的改革來整頓奧委會，包括禁止奧委會成員拜訪申辦城市。
薩馬蘭奇在1980年執掌國際奧委會的時候，這個組織面臨破產，奧林匹克運動快要被抵制、恐怖主義和資金問題弄垮了。
當他卸任的時候，國際奧委會有了數十億美元的商業化收入，抵制時代終結了，奧運會成了全世界的體育盛會。
即使是退休之後，薩馬蘭奇仍然積極的參與奧林匹克活動，還努力幫助馬德里申辦2012年和2016年奧運會。在2012年的競爭中，最終舉辦地落到倫敦頭上，巴黎第二，馬德里排在第三位。在2016年的競爭中，馬德里惜敗里約熱內盧。
儘管年事已高又深受疾病困擾，薩馬蘭奇仍然出席國際奧委會在全世界的會議。最近幾個月他看上去越來越虛弱，在二月出席溫哥華冬奧會的時候，他走路時已經需要一位女性助手的幫助了。