The IOC lost one of its honorary members with the death of Constantine II of Greece on Tuesday 10 January at the age of 82. An Olympic sailing champion in the Dragon class at the 1960 Rome Games, he was a member of the body between 1963 and 1974, before joining the ranks of honorary members. King of the Hellenes and Prince of Denmark, Constantine officially reigned for eleven years, between 1964 and 1973, before fleeing Greece and living in exile for a long time, in Denmark and then in Great Britain. The IOC recalls this in a press release: Constantine II was President, then Honorary President, of the Hellenic Olympic Committee. He was also Honorary President of the Royal Greek Sailing Association, World Sailing and the International Olympic Academy. He was also a patron of the International Union of Modern Pentathlon (UIPM). Initially attracted to horse riding, he was later steered towards sailing by his father, and at the age of 20 won the gold medal in the Dragon Class, a three-man boat, at the 1960 Rome Games. The first Olympic gold medal won by Greece in almost 50 years. He was Greece’s flag bearer for these Games, before being named “Greek Athlete of the Year”.
