The former chair of the British Olympic Association and president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, Sir Craig Reedie, has died at the age of 84.
Reedie chaired the BOA from 1992 to 2005 and later served as president of WADA from 2014 to 2019.
During his tenure with the BOA, he played a key role in London’s successful bid to host the 2012 Olympic Games and 2012 Paralympic Games, before going on to serve as a director of the organising committee for both events.
He was also a prominent figure within the International Olympic Committee, serving on its executive board between 2009 and 2012 and as vice president from 2012 to 2016.
As reported by BBC Sport on Monday, tributes have poured in from across the sporting world.
BOA chair Katherine Grainger said: “If you have worked in Olympic sport, then it’s highly likely that you would have known Sir Craig Reedie. How lucky we all were. Few knew the Olympic movement better, and fewer still served it with such distinction.”
She added that Reedie “always fought hard for Olympic sport, and fought harder still for clean sport,” noting that his commitment never wavered despite the challenges within global sport.
Reedie was also a former international badminton player who represented Great Britain in the 1960s before transitioning into administration.
He later led the Scottish Badminton Union and, in 1981, became president of the International Badminton Federation, where he helped secure badminton’s inclusion in the Olympic programme at the 1992 Games in Barcelona.
As WADA president, he presided over a turbulent period that included the exposure of state-sponsored doping in Russia, which led to sanctions preventing the country’s athletes from competing under their national flag.
Kirsty Coventry described him as “a steadfast guardian of integrity,” adding that “his contribution to the Olympic Games, to clean sport and to the development of athletes worldwide will endure for generations to come.”
Reedie was widely honoured for his sport service, being appointed Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in 1999, knighted in 2006, and later elevated to Knight Grand Cross (GBE) in 2018.
His death marks the passing of one of the most influential figures in modern Olympic sport, whose legacy will continue to shape the global sporting landscape for years to come.
