At 78 years old, Dick Pound started off his penultimate year as a full member of the IOC. The dean of the Olympic body occupies the news at an almost daily rate, with his speechless statements and his often contradictory positions. In an interview with Radio-Canada Sports, the former lawyer particularly criticises the international sports calendar, which he considers clearly too busy. So far, not really a scoop. But the Canadian leader does not hesitate to criticise the very existence of an event created from scratch by the IOC: the Youth Games. “The international sports calendar is too long”, he suggests. “There are too many events and many of them have little, or no value (…) You even have to look at the Youth Olympic Games, because as a sporting event, it doesn’t add much”. In the same interview, Dick Pound said he would have to leave the IOC before he reached the age of 81. “For me that means at the end of 2022. Then there is a possibility that I will be made an honorary member without formal voting rights”. Finally, on the question of the chances of being able to organise the Tokyo Games this year, despite the health context, the Canadian is “confident”, but his confidence remains relative. “I think the odds are 3 to 1 for it to happen”, he said. “But am I sure? No. Confident? Yes. Do I hope so? Yes. But, sure, it’s not. I don’t want to do something stupid of this nature”.
