Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Craig Reedie dies aged 84 Craig Reedie, the former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president whose position on the Russian doping scandal a decade ago brought him into conflict with the IOC where he was a vice president, has died. He was 84.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed his death on Monday without stating the cause.
Reedie played key roles in London’s unexpected win in bidding to host the 2012 Olympics and in getting his own sport badminton on to the Olympic program for the 1992 Barcelona Games.
“Craig was my mentor, wise counsel, passionate advisor, and great friend,” said Sebastian Coe, who worked alongside Reedie in bidding for and organizing the London Summer Games.
“He was the distinguished elder statesman with a reservoir of Olympic knowledge and experience which he shared willingly and to great effect,” Coe wrote in a social media post on Monday.
Reedie’s standing in Olympic politics helped to elevate him to lead the global anti-doping watchdog in 2013, when the presidential nomination was effectively the turn of the IOC to decide.
Three years later, the lead-in to the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games was dominated by the scandal of learning the scale of Russia’s state-backed doping program at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
The push by Reedie’s WADA to remove the entire Russian team from Rio was fiercely resisted by the IOC and its president Thomas Bach. Both men sat on the IOC’s 15-member executive board that ultimately decided to let governing bodies of Olympic sports decide their entry policy for Russian athletes.
The public pressure put on Reedie by influential Olympic figures continued for months until he and Bach met to clear the air. Since Rio, no Russian team has competed at an Olympics with its own country name, flag and anthem.
Current IOC president Kirsty Coventry said on Monday that Reedie’s contribution “to the Olympic Games, to clean sport and to the development of athletes worldwide will endure for generations to come.” “He was a steadfast guardian of integrity, guiding the global sporting community through some of its most challenging moments with dignity and resolve,” Coventry added in an IOC statement.
Coe described Reedie, a Scotsman who was knighted in 2006, as the “epitome of a gentleman.” “He was equal parts opinionated, wise, canny, and, most of all, loyal to those who legitimately wanted to serve sport,” the World Athletics president said. “He certainly did not suffer fools gladly, was authentic, and would speak his mind.” Reedie was elected as an IOC member in 1994 and became an honorary member in 2021.
The IOC said its flag would fly at half-staff for three days at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Published on Apr 07, 2026
#World #AntiDoping #Agency #chief #Craig #Reedie #dies #aged
Craig Reedie, the former World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) president whose position on the Russian doping scandal a decade ago brought him into conflict with the IOC where he was a vice president, has died. He was 84.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed his death on Monday without stating the cause.
Reedie played key roles in London’s unexpected win in bidding to host the 2012 Olympics and in getting his own sport badminton on to the Olympic program for the 1992 Barcelona Games.
“Craig was my mentor, wise counsel, passionate advisor, and great friend,” said Sebastian Coe, who worked alongside Reedie in bidding for and organizing the London Summer Games.
“He was the distinguished elder statesman with a reservoir of Olympic knowledge and experience which he shared willingly and to great effect,” Coe wrote in a social media post on Monday.
Reedie’s standing in Olympic politics helped to elevate him to lead the global anti-doping watchdog in 2013, when the presidential nomination was effectively the turn of the IOC to decide.
Three years later, the lead-in to the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games was dominated by the scandal of learning the scale of Russia’s state-backed doping program at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
The push by Reedie’s WADA to remove the entire Russian team from Rio was fiercely resisted by the IOC and its president Thomas Bach. Both men sat on the IOC’s 15-member executive board that ultimately decided to let governing bodies of Olympic sports decide their entry policy for Russian athletes.
The public pressure put on Reedie by influential Olympic figures continued for months until he and Bach met to clear the air. Since Rio, no Russian team has competed at an Olympics with its own country name, flag and anthem.
Current IOC president Kirsty Coventry said on Monday that Reedie’s contribution “to the Olympic Games, to clean sport and to the development of athletes worldwide will endure for generations to come.” “He was a steadfast guardian of integrity, guiding the global sporting community through some of its most challenging moments with dignity and resolve,” Coventry added in an IOC statement.
Coe described Reedie, a Scotsman who was knighted in 2006, as the “epitome of a gentleman.” “He was equal parts opinionated, wise, canny, and, most of all, loyal to those who legitimately wanted to serve sport,” the World Athletics president said. “He certainly did not suffer fools gladly, was authentic, and would speak his mind.” Reedie was elected as an IOC member in 1994 and became an honorary member in 2021.
The IOC said its flag would fly at half-staff for three days at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Published on Apr 07, 2026
![Kevin Knight is here, he’s hungry, and ready to take over AEW Kevin Knight’s rise has been nothing short of stratospheric. A year that began with Knight having a promising run as one of All Elite Wrestling’s up-and-coming stars morphed over the course of 2026 into something much, much larger. Knight captured individual gold by winning the TNT Championship in April, and now he’s on the precipice of the biggest match of his career. Knight will stand across the ring from AEW World Champion Kenny Omega at Redemption in Montreal, headlining a pay-per-view and looking to shatter expectations in the process.I talked with Knight this week in the lead up to his match against Omega to learn what makes him tick as a wrestler, understand the decision behind joining The Don Callis Family, and learn that in a world of heroes and villans, Knight is perfectly comfortable to exist in the grey area.A turning point for Knight came in May at Double or Nothing when he shocked the world by turning on Darby Allin and joining with Don Callis to close the show. It felt like a staggering rejection of his role as fan-favorite inside the company, but it was clinical for Knight. This wasn’t about trying to become hated, but trying to elevate himself.“The goal has stayed the same,” Knight says, “become Jet 2 Belts.” Not only does he want to hold onto his TNT title, but to win the AEW World Championship as well, asserting himself at the top. “I saw the opportunity to overtake this company after Double or Nothing and figured I need to invest in myself.“Getting myself with the Don Callis Family and, seeing how he moves and how, how he’s brought so many championships to AEW, it was a no-brainer, and it’s been nothing but success ever since.”Knight speaks plainly in a business so influenced by emotion. Joining Callis wasn’t a conscious decision to make fans angry or to reject his longtime friend “Speedball” Mike Bailey, but came about organically, as with any difficult change an athlete needs to make. The NFL player demanding a trade, the NBA star making a decision — Knight is walking the same line.“He’s [Callis] been here from day one, and he’s seen people come and go. He’s seen all different types of performers, so he snatched me up. I was tagged with Speedball Mike Bailey, and he had a smile, and he was just naive to the politics of it all. [Don’s] smartened me up, giving me another angle, another perspective in attacking this game that we call wrestling.”If pro wrestling is a game, then Kenny Omega is its final boss. Not only is “The Best Bout Machine” the world champion, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Knight might have faced a lot of challenges, but fighting Omega in Canada for a championship is on a different level. Still, Knight feels like he might have an edge — and he’s excited to“Always attack his weaknesses, attacking his weaknesses and, and knowing who he is as a person, and, and capitalizing on those weaknesses. Don Callis has known Kenny a long, long, long time, so he’s priming me up. He’s giving me some game on Kenny’s blind spots. We all love Kenny as a person, but he’s careless in some ways — so, whenever I see those openings, I’m definitely gonna definitely going to attack, take advantage.”It’s not lost on Knight that a majority of wrestling fans are writing him off on Sunday. The lingering perception is that Omega will win, move on to All In at Wembley Stadium, and have another epic match against Will Ospreay. That’s a narrative Knight isn’t willing to accept.“People are expecting this long-life anime fantasy between Omega and Osprey. Redemption is gonna be a change of course, and we’re gonna see a new era. We’re gonna see a new superstar rise to the top. I laugh at the people who look past this match. I use it as more fuel, because I love being a spoiler.”It’s big talk, but Kevin Knight has backed it up in recent months. He’s on a nine-match win streak, perfectly part of his “vision board,” which includes winning the AEW World Heavyweight Title, and then involves becoming the face of the company.“If all goes to plan, Jet Two Belts becomes a reality this upcoming Sunday, and I don’t see myself relinquishing it for anybody, that comes my way. I think I will let up and maybe relinquish the TNT title or, you know, let the other people have a little bit of fun. don’t wanna take up all the time at AEW, but AEW is gonna be set up in the next 6 months if The Jet is on top.”The groundwork for this run, this chance at the championship is built on the backs of people who lifted up Kevin Knight along the way. I asked him for his personal wrestling Mount Rushmore, the individuals who have meant the most to him during his career.“Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida, because they helped mold me. From a young lion to my first couple of tours in New Japan and being able to do Impact as well alongside Kushida. Those two guys definitely mean a lot to me. I gotta throw in there Speedball Mike Bailey because one of my first tours in Japan, one of my first matches in TNA/ Impact was against him, and then, of course, our whole run as Jet Speed and everything that we’ve been able to accomplish together. It means a lot to me, on a sentimental level. Fourth, I would like to give it up to Tony Khan just for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to go out there and show the world who and what I am, giving me the opportunity to try new things and just always encouraging me.”This is only the beginning for Kevin Knight, who will be a staple of the pro-wrestling landscape for a long, long time — win or lose.Kevin Knight will face Kenny Omega at AEW Redemption, which will air on Sunday, July 26 from CentreBell in Montreal, Canada, beginning at 6 p.m. ET #Kevin #Knight #hes #hungry #ready #AEW](https://i1.wp.com/platform.sbnation.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2026/07/knight.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C4.865499187579%2C100%2C90.269001624842&ssl=1 "Kevin Knight is here, he’s hungry, and ready to take over AEW Kevin Knight’s rise has been nothing short of stratospheric. A year that began with Knight having a promising run as one of All Elite Wrestling’s up-and-coming stars morphed over the course of 2026 into something much, much larger. Knight captured individual gold by winning the TNT Championship in April, and now he’s on the precipice of the biggest match of his career. Knight will stand across the ring from AEW World Champion Kenny Omega at Redemption in Montreal, headlining a pay-per-view and looking to shatter expectations in the process.I talked with Knight this week in the lead up to his match against Omega to learn what makes him tick as a wrestler, understand the decision behind joining The Don Callis Family, and learn that in a world of heroes and villans, Knight is perfectly comfortable to exist in the grey area.A turning point for Knight came in May at Double or Nothing when he shocked the world by turning on Darby Allin and joining with Don Callis to close the show. It felt like a staggering rejection of his role as fan-favorite inside the company, but it was clinical for Knight. This wasn’t about trying to become hated, but trying to elevate himself.“The goal has stayed the same,” Knight says, “become Jet 2 Belts.” Not only does he want to hold onto his TNT title, but to win the AEW World Championship as well, asserting himself at the top. “I saw the opportunity to overtake this company after Double or Nothing and figured I need to invest in myself.“Getting myself with the Don Callis Family and, seeing how he moves and how, how he’s brought so many championships to AEW, it was a no-brainer, and it’s been nothing but success ever since.”Knight speaks plainly in a business so influenced by emotion. Joining Callis wasn’t a conscious decision to make fans angry or to reject his longtime friend “Speedball” Mike Bailey, but came about organically, as with any difficult change an athlete needs to make. The NFL player demanding a trade, the NBA star making a decision — Knight is walking the same line.“He’s [Callis] been here from day one, and he’s seen people come and go. He’s seen all different types of performers, so he snatched me up. I was tagged with Speedball Mike Bailey, and he had a smile, and he was just naive to the politics of it all. [Don’s] smartened me up, giving me another angle, another perspective in attacking this game that we call wrestling.”If pro wrestling is a game, then Kenny Omega is its final boss. Not only is “The Best Bout Machine” the world champion, but he is also regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Knight might have faced a lot of challenges, but fighting Omega in Canada for a championship is on a different level. Still, Knight feels like he might have an edge — and he’s excited to“Always attack his weaknesses, attacking his weaknesses and, and knowing who he is as a person, and, and capitalizing on those weaknesses. Don Callis has known Kenny a long, long, long time, so he’s priming me up. He’s giving me some game on Kenny’s blind spots. We all love Kenny as a person, but he’s careless in some ways — so, whenever I see those openings, I’m definitely gonna definitely going to attack, take advantage.”It’s not lost on Knight that a majority of wrestling fans are writing him off on Sunday. The lingering perception is that Omega will win, move on to All In at Wembley Stadium, and have another epic match against Will Ospreay. That’s a narrative Knight isn’t willing to accept.“People are expecting this long-life anime fantasy between Omega and Osprey. Redemption is gonna be a change of course, and we’re gonna see a new era. We’re gonna see a new superstar rise to the top. I laugh at the people who look past this match. I use it as more fuel, because I love being a spoiler.”It’s big talk, but Kevin Knight has backed it up in recent months. He’s on a nine-match win streak, perfectly part of his “vision board,” which includes winning the AEW World Heavyweight Title, and then involves becoming the face of the company.“If all goes to plan, Jet Two Belts becomes a reality this upcoming Sunday, and I don’t see myself relinquishing it for anybody, that comes my way. I think I will let up and maybe relinquish the TNT title or, you know, let the other people have a little bit of fun. don’t wanna take up all the time at AEW, but AEW is gonna be set up in the next 6 months if The Jet is on top.”The groundwork for this run, this chance at the championship is built on the backs of people who lifted up Kevin Knight along the way. I asked him for his personal wrestling Mount Rushmore, the individuals who have meant the most to him during his career.“Katsuyori Shibata and Kushida, because they helped mold me. From a young lion to my first couple of tours in New Japan and being able to do Impact as well alongside Kushida. Those two guys definitely mean a lot to me. I gotta throw in there Speedball Mike Bailey because one of my first tours in Japan, one of my first matches in TNA/ Impact was against him, and then, of course, our whole run as Jet Speed and everything that we’ve been able to accomplish together. It means a lot to me, on a sentimental level. Fourth, I would like to give it up to Tony Khan just for believing in me and giving me the opportunity to go out there and show the world who and what I am, giving me the opportunity to try new things and just always encouraging me.”This is only the beginning for Kevin Knight, who will be a staple of the pro-wrestling landscape for a long, long time — win or lose.Kevin Knight will face Kenny Omega at AEW Redemption, which will air on Sunday, July 26 from CentreBell in Montreal, Canada, beginning at 6 p.m. ET #Kevin #Knight #hes #hungry #ready #AEW")
Post Comment