Sir Craig Reedie, a towering figure in international sports governance who led both the British Olympic Association and the World Anti-Doping Agency, has died at age 84.
Reedie's career spanned decades of Olympic history, beginning with his role as chair of the British Olympic Association from 1992 to 2005. He played a crucial part in London's successful bid for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, later serving as a director of the organizing committee.
His influence extended globally when he became the third president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), serving from 2014 to 2019. During his tenure, he navigated the agency through the revelation of state-sponsored doping by Russia, which resulted in the country's athletes being banned from competing under their national flag.
"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," said Dame Katherine Grainger, current chair of the BOA. "Few knew the Olympic movement better and fewer still served it with such distinction."
Reedie's Olympic credentials were further solidified through his service on the International Olympic Committee executive board (2009-2012) and as IOC vice president (2012-2016). His sporting roots ran deep—he was an international badminton player representing Great Britain in the 1960s and later led the Scottish Badminton Union.
In 1981, he was elected president of the International Badminton Federation, where he successfully campaigned to include badminton in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
Lord Sebastian Coe, chair of the London 2012 organizing committee, remembered Reedie as "the epitome of a gentleman" and a crucial mentor.
"Without Craig and his leadership of the British Olympic Association, we may never have won the right to host London 2012," Coe stated. "Craig was a sportsman at heart, but he had the mind and tenacity of a politician. He was equal parts opinionated, wise, canny and, most of all, loyal to those who legitimately wanted to serve sport."
Reedie's commitment to clean sport was a defining aspect of his legacy. Dame Grainger noted that "he always fought hard for Olympic sport, and fought harder still for clean sport."
International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry praised Reedie as "a steadfast guardian of integrity" who "guided the global sporting community through some of its most challenging moments with dignity and resolve."
In recognition of his lifetime of service to the Olympic movement, Reedie was awarded the Olympic Order in 2023.