Athletics mourns European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen
President of the European Athletic Association, Svein Arne Hansen, speaks to the media during a press conference at the Gavle City Hall on July 10, 2019 in Gavle, Sweden. (Photo by Oliver Hardt/Getty Images for European Athletics)
By Pierce O' Callaghan
OSLO, June 21, 2020 - Yesterday was a devastating day for athletics and a very sad day for all who were privileged to know the European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen, a giant of the sport, who died after a stroke suffered in March.
A man full of charm, charisma, integrity and divilment (an Irish word which means a great sense of fun) Svein Arne Hansen made a immeasurable contribution to the sport in a career spanning 60 years.
A dear & very loyal friend, he was originally a hero of mine as I grew up as a kid in the 1980s watching the the magical Dream Mile races on TV with my father which he organised in Oslo made famous by Seb Coe & Steve Ovett who made world headlines not too far ahead of the great Irish milers of the era Eamonn Coghlan, Ray Flynn, Marcus O'Sullivan & Frank O'Mara.
Svein had a rare ability to understand exactly what the fans wanted and it was such a privilege to listen to his many stories of those magical nights when I got to know him better over the past 15 years.
He knew all the global stars of the era on a personal level - Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Ed Moses, Mike Powell, and our own Sonia O'Sullivan included and they all had so much time for him when he met.
He was an athletes man to the core and its mainly on his back breaking efforts that Oslo grew to be one of the capitals of world athletics.
His wider contribution to the sport as a founding member of the Golden 4 Grand Prix's in the 90s was immense and he served as the President of EuroMeetings, the top Grand Prix meets in Europe until quite recently.
He was also President of the Norwegian Federation and laid the foundations for the success we see today with Karsten Warholm & Team Ingebrigtsen.
In 2007, he was elected Vice President of European Athletics and brought his drive, energy and charm to make some big changes for the better and although he missed out on the top job by 4 votes in 2011 he was eventually elected President in 2015 and re-elected again last year in 2019.
As President of European Athletics he campaigned and was elected on a premise of change & progress, and in time he grew to become such a big voice of the sport in Europe. He loved every minute he spent as President of European Athletics and was never burdened by the stresses it threw up at him.
He had absolutely no time for dopers and we spent many nights together trying to figure out how to increase the then 2 year ban for doping and when his close friend Seb Coe was subsequently elected President of World Athletics a few months later they became the Dream Team immediately setting out to clean up the mess of the Diack years and restore credibility and honour to the sport.
A successful stamp dealer by trade, he never failed to send his grand children postcards from every city he visited..I know this well because of the numerous times he asked me to post them for him! His loyalty was out of this world and I learned of this the first time we met at a European Athletics CEO conference in Italy in 2006.
I was a lowly Events Manager of Scottish Athletics chancing my arm by attending the conference to learn my trade. I was 30 years old, about 30 years younger than the average age there and knew absolutely not one of the 100 plus delegates. Somehow I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to Svein and upon hearing I was Irish invited me out for a drink with him and some friends on the last night of the seminar.
We arranged to meet in the lobby but I was so nervous to go out with these high profile established Presidents & CEOs of big National federations I decided to turn up 20 minutes late hoping they would all have left without me. I was right, they all had left, all except Svein who waited the 20 minutes on his own for me.
Upon seeing me he threw his arms around me and said I know your a young guy but I can see you will have a big future in the sport and I will look after you. After an introduction like that, who is not going to repay that loyalty back for as long as possible?
I last spoke to him on April 10th, when he asked me to help him with a tweet his final communication with the world as it sadly happens. Even in severe pain and discomfort and full of pain killing drugs he was in great form as usual, cracking jokes - inappropriate and otherwise, looking forward to the Olympics and the European Championships this summer, and I didn't have the heart to tell him both had already been cancelled due to covid.
He suffered further life threatening complications the week following our chat and I will treasure the final words we spoke and the many laughs we shared. Svein ran a true race, and leaves a great legacy to all athletics leaders to build on and develop further. He was a true friend, in the realist sense of the word and as the covid restrictions mean I cannot attend his funeral in Oslo this week I wanted to pay tribute to him and the life he lived and his many achievements. Unfortunately they don't make them like Svein anymore.
My biggest regret is that I didn’t push him harder to publish his memoirs which he had agreed to do next year ... so many priceless stories now never to be told....
Condolences to his family who he loved so much.
Sleep well my friend and thank you for the friendship and opportunities and many great memories you provided me with.
OSLO, June 21, 2020 - Yesterday was a devastating day for athletics and a very sad day for all who were privileged to know the European Athletics President Svein Arne Hansen, a giant of the sport, who died after a stroke suffered in March.
A man full of charm, charisma, integrity and divilment (an Irish word which means a great sense of fun) Svein Arne Hansen made a immeasurable contribution to the sport in a career spanning 60 years.
A dear & very loyal friend, he was originally a hero of mine as I grew up as a kid in the 1980s watching the the magical Dream Mile races on TV with my father which he organised in Oslo made famous by Seb Coe & Steve Ovett who made world headlines not too far ahead of the great Irish milers of the era Eamonn Coghlan, Ray Flynn, Marcus O'Sullivan & Frank O'Mara.
Svein had a rare ability to understand exactly what the fans wanted and it was such a privilege to listen to his many stories of those magical nights when I got to know him better over the past 15 years.
He knew all the global stars of the era on a personal level - Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson, Ed Moses, Mike Powell, and our own Sonia O'Sullivan included and they all had so much time for him when he met.
He was an athletes man to the core and its mainly on his back breaking efforts that Oslo grew to be one of the capitals of world athletics.
His wider contribution to the sport as a founding member of the Golden 4 Grand Prix's in the 90s was immense and he served as the President of EuroMeetings, the top Grand Prix meets in Europe until quite recently.
He was also President of the Norwegian Federation and laid the foundations for the success we see today with Karsten Warholm & Team Ingebrigtsen.
In 2007, he was elected Vice President of European Athletics and brought his drive, energy and charm to make some big changes for the better and although he missed out on the top job by 4 votes in 2011 he was eventually elected President in 2015 and re-elected again last year in 2019.
As President of European Athletics he campaigned and was elected on a premise of change & progress, and in time he grew to become such a big voice of the sport in Europe. He loved every minute he spent as President of European Athletics and was never burdened by the stresses it threw up at him.
He had absolutely no time for dopers and we spent many nights together trying to figure out how to increase the then 2 year ban for doping and when his close friend Seb Coe was subsequently elected President of World Athletics a few months later they became the Dream Team immediately setting out to clean up the mess of the Diack years and restore credibility and honour to the sport.
A successful stamp dealer by trade, he never failed to send his grand children postcards from every city he visited..I know this well because of the numerous times he asked me to post them for him! His loyalty was out of this world and I learned of this the first time we met at a European Athletics CEO conference in Italy in 2006.
I was a lowly Events Manager of Scottish Athletics chancing my arm by attending the conference to learn my trade. I was 30 years old, about 30 years younger than the average age there and knew absolutely not one of the 100 plus delegates. Somehow I mustered up the courage to introduce myself to Svein and upon hearing I was Irish invited me out for a drink with him and some friends on the last night of the seminar.
We arranged to meet in the lobby but I was so nervous to go out with these high profile established Presidents & CEOs of big National federations I decided to turn up 20 minutes late hoping they would all have left without me. I was right, they all had left, all except Svein who waited the 20 minutes on his own for me.
Upon seeing me he threw his arms around me and said I know your a young guy but I can see you will have a big future in the sport and I will look after you. After an introduction like that, who is not going to repay that loyalty back for as long as possible?
I last spoke to him on April 10th, when he asked me to help him with a tweet his final communication with the world as it sadly happens. Even in severe pain and discomfort and full of pain killing drugs he was in great form as usual, cracking jokes - inappropriate and otherwise, looking forward to the Olympics and the European Championships this summer, and I didn't have the heart to tell him both had already been cancelled due to covid.
He suffered further life threatening complications the week following our chat and I will treasure the final words we spoke and the many laughs we shared. Svein ran a true race, and leaves a great legacy to all athletics leaders to build on and develop further. He was a true friend, in the realist sense of the word and as the covid restrictions mean I cannot attend his funeral in Oslo this week I wanted to pay tribute to him and the life he lived and his many achievements. Unfortunately they don't make them like Svein anymore.
My biggest regret is that I didn’t push him harder to publish his memoirs which he had agreed to do next year ... so many priceless stories now never to be told....
Condolences to his family who he loved so much.
Sleep well my friend and thank you for the friendship and opportunities and many great memories you provided me with.
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