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British sports journalist John Rodda, died on Tuesday (3) at his home in Taunton, England after a long illness, aged 78.
Rodda (born on 6 November 1930) was one of the most respected Olympic writers for over three decades though his career as a sportswriter actually stretched back as far as the 1948 Olympics in London. There as an 18-year-old he reported on the cycling events.
In 1950 he joined the Manchester Guardian, and was their athletics and boxing correspondent for more than 36 years, beginning in 1960 an unbroken string of Olympics coverage for the newspaper that ended in 1994, a year before he retired.
When IOC President Lord Killanin established the IOC Press Commission during his term from 1972 to 1980, Rodda was appointed as one of the charter members of that commission.
In addition to his Olympics work, Rodda also covered boxing, including the fabled 1974 bout in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the “Rumble in the Jungle."
In the late 1970s and 1980s he followed closely the exploits of the celebrated generation of British middle-distance runners and was much respected by Sebastian Coe but also by Steve Ovett, who chose Rodda to write his biography.
He was voted Sports Reporter of the Year in 1988, and forecast accurately that Atlanta would get the 1996 Summer Olympics instead of the favourites Athens.
Rodda, also wrote extensively for the Observer and the Sunday Express, and continued working prominently until his retirement.
After retirement in 1995, he served on the lottery panels of UK Sport and Sport England. He is survived by his wife and daughter and by the five children from his first marriage.
IAAF
Rodda (born on 6 November 1930) was one of the most respected Olympic writers for over three decades though his career as a sportswriter actually stretched back as far as the 1948 Olympics in London. There as an 18-year-old he reported on the cycling events.
In 1950 he joined the Manchester Guardian, and was their athletics and boxing correspondent for more than 36 years, beginning in 1960 an unbroken string of Olympics coverage for the newspaper that ended in 1994, a year before he retired.
When IOC President Lord Killanin established the IOC Press Commission during his term from 1972 to 1980, Rodda was appointed as one of the charter members of that commission.
In addition to his Olympics work, Rodda also covered boxing, including the fabled 1974 bout in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, the “Rumble in the Jungle."
In the late 1970s and 1980s he followed closely the exploits of the celebrated generation of British middle-distance runners and was much respected by Sebastian Coe but also by Steve Ovett, who chose Rodda to write his biography.
He was voted Sports Reporter of the Year in 1988, and forecast accurately that Atlanta would get the 1996 Summer Olympics instead of the favourites Athens.
Rodda, also wrote extensively for the Observer and the Sunday Express, and continued working prominently until his retirement.
After retirement in 1995, he served on the lottery panels of UK Sport and Sport England. He is survived by his wife and daughter and by the five children from his first marriage.
IAAF