Never one for soundbites－sometimes his remarks or answers could come across as too technocratic delivered behind his poker-faced expression－thoughts of the legacy he leaves did not matter to him.

"Normally with regard to legacy you only speak about that when people die," he told AFP.

"I didn't take the mandate up to leave a legacy and historians can write about that in 20 years' time if they so wish."

Rogge was elected the IOC's eighth president in Moscow on July 16, 2001, defeating four other candidates to succeed Samaranch, a former ambassador who ran the committee for 21 years. Rogge took office in the wake of the Salt Lake City corruption scandal.

Rogge enjoyed a "Mr. Clean" reputation and moved quickly to break with the IOC's tainted and elitist image. Within hours of coming to power, he announced that he would stay in the athletes' village rather than the IOC hotel during the Salt Lake City Olympics. (He continued the practice at subsequent Games, though he also would stay in the official hotel when he had important meetings).

"He was absolutely the right person at the right time," Norwegian former IOC member Gerhard Heiberg said. "We had a lot of turmoil. We had to get out of that. We had to get another image. He brought stability to the organization."

After serving an initial eight-year term, Rogge was reelected unopposed in 2009 to a second and final four-year mandate. He stepped down in September 2013 in Buenos Aires, where German lawyer Thomas Bach was elected.

"I received an IOC in good shape from Samaranch," Rogge said in an interview before handing over to Bach. "And I believe I will leave an IOC in good shape to my successor."

Rogge spoke five languages, a big selling point in the multilingual IOC. His native tongue was Flemish or Dutch, but he also spoke French, English, Spanish and German.