In this
Spanish name, the first or paternal
surname is Samaranch and the second or maternal family name is Salisachs.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs (born 1 November 1959) is a Spanish sports executive and financial analyst who currently serves as the vice president of the
International Olympic Committee (IOC).[1][2][3] He is the son of former IOC president
Juan Antonio Samaranch.[4]
Early life
Samaranch was born on 1 November 1959 in
Barcelona, Spain, the only son of María Teresa Salisachs and Juan Antonio Samaranch.[4][5][1] He has one sister, María Teresa.[6] His father was Minister of Sports under
Franco from 1967 to 1971 and president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001.[3][7][8] The family spent some time living in
Moscow, Soviet Union while Samaranch the elder served as a diplomat following the
restoration of democracy in Spain.[3]
In February 2013, the IOC voted to eliminate one sport from the Olympics. Although many experts predicted that the pentathlon would be removed due to its low popularity.Despite having a larger athlete and fan base,wrestling due the doping cases was removed instead. This rule was about to start at the 2020 Summer Olympics.[22][23] Samaranch was largely regarded as a major player in the decision, in part because of his conflict of interest with the UIPM, which would be damaged with the elimination of the pentathlon.[24][22][1][12] By September, wrestling had been reinstated on grounds of its
long history at the Olympics.[25]
In 2020, Samaranch was firm in his belief that the Olympics should continue regardless of the
COVID-19 pandemic, albeit with necessary restrictions and precautions, even if the
vaccine did not become available before the event.[28] Historically, Samaranch has supported the candidacy of Madrid as the host of the
2016 Summer Olympics as well as Beijing for the
2022 Winter Olympics despite experts' assertions that it would be the "most unsustainable games of all time" due to the amount of artificial snow needed.[29][13] He was also a major proponent of holding the
2030 Winter Olympics in Barcelona-
Pyrenees but the bid was officially pulled in June 2022 due to a lack of agreement between the governments of
Aragon and
Catalonia.[30][31][15][32]
Personal life
Samaranch is married to Italian socialite Cristina Bigelli and together they have four children: Juan, Alessia, Matteo, and Allegra.[33][8][5] Alessia is married to French financier Hadrien Forterre.[5] Samaranch speaks Spanish,
Catalan, Italian, French, and English.[1] He and his family live in Madrid.[32]