The return of King Constantine to Greece following the 1960 Rome Olympics.
by Philip Barker
The Olympic flag has been at half-mast at Olympic House in Lausanne this week as International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach paid his own tribute to
King Constantine of Greece, sailing gold medallist at the 1960 Olympics and honorary IOC member who has died in Athens, aged 82.
“In King Constantine we have lost a great friend of sport,” IOC President Thomas Bach said.
Greek stamp honoring Prince Constantine’s sailing gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games.
“He was a fellow Olympic Champion and, whenever we met, we shared our passion about sport and discussed our love of Olympism and the life of an athlete,” Bach added.
“He was always interested in the development of the Olympic Movement, and our conversations were very enriching.”
“I will greatly miss these always friendly meetings. Our thoughts are with Queen Anne-Marie and with the entire family.”
King Constantine was admitted to the private Hygeia Hospital in the city with breathing difficulties last week and is understood to have died after suffering a stroke.
Constantine had a close connection with the Olympic movement throughout his life.
He had been elected President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee when still a teenager.
He took up sailing and was coached by the legendary Danish four-time Olympic gold medallist Paul Elvstrom.
He was chosen for the Greek sailing team which competed in the sailing regatta, held in the Bay of Naples, at the 1960 Rome Olympics.
He carried the Greek flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Games.
In the formative years of the International Olympic Academy, he was a familiar presence at the sessions.
Constantine was elected a member of the International Olympic Committee in 1963, a year before acceding to the throne of Greece on the death of his father King Paul.
Constantine was forced into exile in 1967 when a military junta assumed control of Greece, but remained King until 1974 when a referendum abolished the Greek monarchy.
He also resigned his IOC membership but was accepted as an honorary member.
Constantine was also a significant presence in sailing and was made World Sailing’s President of Honour in 1994.
A full tribute will follow in the next edition of the Journal of Olympic History.
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