Sir Craig Reedie CBE, Member of the Executive Board, IOC

November 29, 2010

By Joshua Modaberi :

Sir Craig Reedie gained success playing badminton from 1962 to 1970, culminating in becoming a doubles champion. At the time, badminton was not recognised as an Olympic sport, a situation his influence was able to remedy in 1985, leading to the first medals being awarded at the 1992 Summer Olympics.

After his success as a player, Reedie turned his efforts towards sports administration and from 1981 to 1984 he was President of the International Badminton Federation (IBF). In 1992, he became the Chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA), serving in that capacity for more than a decade, and for which role he was knighted on retiring in 2005. In 1994, in addition to his British role, Reedie joined the International Olympic Committee (IOC), where he is currently one of three United Kingdom representatives.

Sir Craig was elected last year to the Executive Board of the IOC in recognition of his contributions to the Olympic movement. He is the first British IOC Member to hold this distinction in over 60 years. He also sits on the board of the London 2012 Organising Committee.

Reedie is a member of the Order of the British Empire, in the rank of Commander, giving him the post-nominal letters CBE. In 2006 he gained further recognition, with the award of a knighthood from the Queen, since when his formal title has become: Sir Craig Reedie, CBE. Reedie is to be awarded with an Honorary Degree by the University of Lincoln in the 2010 Graduation ceremonies

Q. How important was it for London to get the Olympics?

The London bid was designed to put Olympic Sport up the social and political agenda and contained a legacy of facilities for London and a legacy for sport for young people.

Q. What do you think will make the London Olympics a successful games?

London is one of the world’s great cities and a wonderful place to visit.  A combination of excellent venues, great sport and a very warm welcome will make the 2012 Olympic Games a success.

Q. Having been through the bidding process for the London Olympics and in a few days England finds out if we will be staging the World Cup in 2018. How will the bidding team be feeling ahead of the decision?

The 2018 Team will be working very hard as many changes of bidding intentions can be changed in the last few days – and even hours.

Q. A few years back the IOC had the Salt Lake City problems with the bidding process, is there anything that FIFA and other sports governing bodies can learn from the IOC?

The IOC were heavily criticised over the choice of Salt Lake City to host the Olympic Winter Games. A detailed reform process was put in place, which restructured the IOC and its processes.  All International Sports Federations are aware of these changes.