He got himself quoted in newspapers demanding the resignation of IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch.
"I know that I am very near the end of my time, " Samaranch said.
The endearment is perhaps surprising considering that Samaranch had led the IOC through its greatest crisis.
Of course Samaranch cannot take all of the credit for the financial revival of the Olympics.
Samaranch's emotional intervention was credited with being the main reason for the late surge in support for the Spanish capital.
The following year, under Samaranch's leadership, the IOC set up The Olympic Programme (TOP), an exclusive club for major global sponsors.
By the time that Samaranch stepped down as IOC President in 2001 it was inevitable that his reputation had been tainted.
Samaranch was never found guilty of any wrongdoing, but some blamed him for having turned a blind eye to all the corruption.
It is, though, fair to say that the modern day IOC wouldn't be the same if it had not been for Juan Antonio Samaranch.
It was an historic moment for Juan Antonio Samaranch, who retired after 21 years as president of the IOC following its meeting in Moscow.
Rogge's predecessor, Juan Antonio Samaranch, was a diplomat and showman who created the modern Olympics as a business with big TV contracts and sponsors.
"First there is the atmosphere in the stadia but then you have to remember that the Games also take place outside the stadia, " explained Samaranch.
Juan Antonio Samaranch can take much of the credit for this.
No individual commanded greater respect within the IOC than Juan Antonio Samaranch, the man who had led the organisation for 21 years from 1980 to 2001.
He went right to work wooing Olympics czar Juan Antonio Samaranch, who awarded Tsutsumi Japan's first Gold Olympic Order in May 1991 and Nagano the Olympics one month later.
The Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000 were declared by former IOC supremo Juan Antonio Samaranch (and pretty much everyone else who mattered) to be "the best Games ever".
Axelrod said Obama's appeal wasn't strong enough to overcome the "internal currents, " pointing out that former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch was among those leading the bid to bring the games to Madrid.
Samaranch, whose father was president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001, says the Spanish capital will look for a "combination of vitality and reliability" as the bid team aim to improve on their third place in the ballot to host the 2012 Games.
For one or two of them maybe that was the case, but the truth is that there is a genuine belief within the Olympic movement that the modern Olympics simply wouldn't be the same if it hadn't been for Samaranch, and the Spaniard's supporters have a point.
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