Mario Vázquez Raña leaves legacy for Olympic Movement
President of the Pan-American Sports Organisation (PASO) put his continent on the global sporting map
Mario Vázquez Raña delivered the opening speech for the Rio 2007 Pan-American Games (Getty Images/Harry How)
Mario Vázquez Raña put the Americas on the global sporting map. The president of the Pan-American Sports Organisation (PASO) passed away on the evening of Sunday 8 February, at the age of 82, leaving behind a major legacy. One of the most influential players in the Olympic Movement in the late 20th century, the Mexican executive paved the way for Rio de Janeiro to host the first Olympic and Paralympic Games in South America.
“Brazilian Olympic sport holds fond and grateful memories of Mario Vázquez Raña, especially at the time of the Rio 2007 Pan-American and Parapan American Games, which were organised to an Olympic standard and have marked the history of sport in Brazil ever since. The success of Rio 2007 contributed to the city’s successful bid to host the 31st Summer Olympic Games in 2016,” said a statement issued by the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
Leading PASO since 1975, Vázquez Raña helped to strengthen sport in the Americas for four decades. During his term in office, the Pan-American Games almost doubled in size. While the Mexico City 1975 Games featured 19 sports, 33 countries and 3,146 athletes, the Toronto 2015 edition, scheduled for July, will involve 36 sports, 41 countries and 6,135 athletes.
The executive joined the Olympic world as a member of the organising committee for the Mexico City 1968 Games, the first edition of the event held in Latin America. The following year, he was elected president of the Mexican Shooting Federation (he was a keen shooter who had competed in national and international competitions).
In 1974, he was elected president of the Mexican Olympic Committee, a position he held until 2001, and he also led the organisation of the Pan-American Games staged in Mexico City in 1975.
Vázquez Raña also played an essential role in the growth of National Olympic Committees, leading the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) from 1979 to 2012.
His contribution to the Olympic world included more than three decades of work with the International Olympic Committee, including as president of the Olympic Solidarity Programme and as a member of the Executive Committee between 1991 and 2012.
