Michael Morris, alias Lord Killanin, was born in London on 30 July 1914. His mother, Dora Wesley Hall, was of Australian origin, and his father, George Morris, was Irish. He had died at the front during the Great War and his widow married Colonel Gerard Tharp. Killanin went to the famous Eton College, and then the Sorbonne in Paris, and finally Magdalene College, Cambridge. In 1927, when his uncle died, Michael Morris took the title of Lord Killanin, the name by which he was generally known from then onwards. His grandfather had first obtained the title of Baron Killanin, and Morris was the third to inherit this title, as well as the family estate in Spiddal, County Galway, Ireland, where he would spend a large part of his youth. With his studies finished in 1935, Killanin started a career in journalism. In 1935, he worked at the Daily Express in London, and one year later at the Daily Mail. He then became head of the Sunday Dispatch’s political and diplomatic page, and was a war correspondent in China between 1937 and 1938. A keen sportsman, he also practised boxing, rowing, rugby and equestrian sports. In 1939, Killanin interrupted his journalistic activities and became a volunteer in the British army. He took part in the Normandy landing as Brigade Major, earning him the Order of the British Empire. As soon as he was demobilised, in 1945, he married Sheila Mary Dunlop. After the Second World War, Killanin’s career path was varied, including culture, sport and business. He occupied several administrative functions over the years, in management roles or on the boards of several Irish businesses, including Irish Shell Co., specialising in import and export. He also chaired several cultural or sports societies, such as the Irish Club. Furthermore, in the 1950s, he participated in the production of several films and penned some works, including the Shell Guide to Ireland, Four Days - a publication summarising the Munich crisis in 1938 -, a biography of the painter Sir Godfrey Kneller, and, later, an autobiography entitled My Olympic Years. In 1950, Killanin was appointed President of the Irish Olympic Committee, a position he held until 1973. This appointment marked his official entry into the Olympic Movement. Two years later, he was elected as a member of the IOC in Ireland. The difficult political situation in this country enabled him to develop his sense of diplomacy and his great ability as a mediator, as he tried to represent Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic within a single body. These two qualities were often needed later, mainly when he became IOC President in 1972, just after the official closing of the controversial Munich Olympic Games Killanin remained as head of the IOC for eight years, during which he had to manage a number of difficult situations. He presided over the IOC during a stormy period for Olympism, which had to address several crises linked to international politics, as well as contemporary issues such as the commercialisation and professionalisation of sport or the increase in doping cases. Among these issues, there was the boycott of the 1976 Games by the African countries. These Games also had various organisational problems. We should also mention the sudden withdrawal of Denver’s candidature for the 1976 Winter Games, which caused logistical difficulties for the IOC. Finally, there was the massive boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games. Killanin managed to lead the IOC through this tumultuous period, and that the running of the organisation was consolidated by the end of his presidency, notably on a financial level. Killanin retired as IOC President in 1980, but became Honorary President until his death on 25 April 1999.