Discrection, flee from 'I have done' and a lot They have made him remain in the most important organism of sport, the IOC, for almost 33 years. Last Monday he closed the door of his office in the modern building next to the lake in Lausana and will no longer open it. At 70 he has decided to hang habits, a very helpful cliché for a man who has been loyal to three presidents, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Jacques Rogge and Thomas Bach, as shrimp are the pontiffs.
Miró, waterpolist before the leader, has a good memory: “Of course I remember my first day! It was on November 10, 1992. I arrived there and Samaranch was not because it coincided with a general assembly of ACNO in Acapulco. I settled without anyone telling me much and I remember it very much, “he said. He came from Barcelona 92, a project where he had started as deputy director of Sports with Manuel Fonseca and had ended as one of the four attached directors.
It is difficult to summarize 22,000 days in a phone call. Loyalty and commitment are the words that repeats the most in conversation. The secrets that are carried, typical of someone who has occupied the deputy general direction of the Olympic body and the president's advisor position, reduces them. “They are not so many. There is much imaginary around this type of organizations. It is true that the IOC operates almost as a state, because in fact the president treats him with honors of head of state, he is recognized in the United Nations.”
Pere Miró, in an interview
But there were also tense moments, endless waiting, a lot of diplomacy and a diplomatic ability To unleash knots impossible. Miró, one of the few Westerners who has visited North Korea on more than one occasion, rescues from memory a little publicized moment. “Only two hours before the inauguration of the Pyoenchang Games, in 2018, we handled three possible stages. What we had worked silent for almost a year, which North and South Korea, paraded together and even participated together in some sports such as the female ice hockey, was in the air. There was a plan B that each parade on its side and a plan C, in which the north did not participate.”
The Catalan had been appointed the link with the Kim Jong Un. Kim Il Guk, Minister of Sports And president of the Olympic Committee, the last two weeks of visiting with him had passed every afternoon at 5. A Capuccino passionate, the IOC assistant had ordered to entertain him with this Italian coffee daily. “He finally called me and told me that he had the service of his government to parade together.”
In his goodbye, in addition to some gifts, he took two books. “Bach gave it to me before leaving. They are photos since we met in 1991. The other is from my team. I have always believed a lot in the team spirit. I charge me that people think “I have done.” No, there is a set of people who are doing and you are part of it. I have not shed a tear for leaving the position that has been my life, but for leaving the team with which I have worked so long. “
Miró, in an assembly in 2007
That way of contemplating the IOC, and also life, showed it especially Samaranch. “I have been lucky to work with three great presidents. Bach was considered by my friend. When we were on a trip and we had to cross a sports center with athletes, we trembled because we knew that the agenda was going to jump through the air. He loved being interested in each of them. Pocket to temper nerves and people knew and entertained him with chestnuts in different materials.
From the Spanish leader, his philosophy stands out. “People used to ask him how he had done it and he just said that taking advantage of the wind in favor, which had only put the candles. “That is my quality,” he said. He knew how to take advantage of the positive world situation that he lived since the mid -80s and worked very well. ” He devised the 2020 agenda, but he had already in his head for several years. “
