Ex-IOC Chief Hospitalized

Juan Antonio Samaranch, who Monday formally relinquished the presidency of the International Olympic Committee, was admitted to a Lausanne hospital early Wednesday, suffering from breathing problems, IOC officials said.

The 81-year-old Spaniard, who served as IOC president for 21 years, was taken to the hospital a few hours after arriving from Moscow, where the IOC wrapped up a historic meeting by awarding the 2008 Summer Games to Beijing and electing Belgian Jacques Rogge as its eighth president.

Rogge flew Wednesday to Switzerland to be at Samaranch’s side. So did Samaranch’s family, some friends and associates. Meantime, IOC officials sought to quell rumors that raced through Olympic circles that Samaranch was sicker than was being let on.

They said his condition was attributable to exhaustion after the Moscow meetings. The IOC’s all-delegates session took place in a high-stakes atmosphere fueled by feverish electioneering, vast quantities of hotel and banquet food and drink, and a minimal amount of sleep for all involved.

In the weeks leading up to the Moscow session, Samaranch had been crisscrossing the globe in a bid to visit the Olympic committees of all 199 countries in the movement before he stepped down as president. Ultimately, he did visit all 199--after stops in such locales as Burundi in Africa, Bhutan in Asia and Fiji in the South Pacific.

“He’s feeling comfortable now,” Rogge, a physician, said by telephone moments before heading to Lausanne. “We all hope that he can be discharged as soon as possible.”

IOC Director General Francois Carrard said: “His condition is better. The doctors say he should probably stay a few more days at the hospital.”

The IOC issued a statement saying that Samaranch would remain hospitalized for “the next few days” and would therefore miss a ceremony Friday at which Rogge is due to get the keys to the IOC’s Lake Geneva headquarters.

Kim Un Yong of South Korea, runner-up to Rogge, issued a statement Wednesday congratulating the Belgian on the victory and Samaranch on his “final journey,” but also saying that the election result “translates to a conclusion that the IOC continues to be a rich man’s club dominated by the Europeans.”

Rogge got 59 of 110 votes cast in the second round. Kim received 23, Canada’s Dick Pound 22 and Hungary’s Pal Schmitt six.

Kim’s faxed statement said: “I have been asked repeatedly by the foreign press to comment on allegations that President Samaranch used his influence and IOC resources, against all rules of fairness set forth by the IOC, to contrive at the election of Jacques Rogge.

”. . .The distance between my final tally and what was certain 48 hours before the election draws to an unmistakable conclusion that forces were at work to undermine a completely fair result. I leave it to any fair-minded observer to draw his own conclusion.”