Within IOC, Samaranch was a man much admired and sometimes loved, the Spanish who made the organization into one that is rich and so powerful. No one doubted Samaranch's ability to make something impossible come true. In 1981 he ensured  that Seoul was elected to be the host of the 1988 Olympics. Remember, that was a time when the two Koreas were at war with each other. And because Samaranch helped swing  Spanish votes  across to London, rather than to Paris, London was made host for the 2012. To China and the Chinese people, Samaranch was considered a great friend. Thanks to his efforts  during his last term as IOC president, Beijing and China won the Olympics for the first time. Samaranch led the IOC from 1980 to 2001. Certainly, throughout his IOC presidential term, he had a soft spot for Moscow, for it was there that he was elected president of the IOC in 1980, and it was there that he managed to reach his final wishes as IOC president. Very early on in that 2001 Moscow session he wanted the Belgian surgeon, Jacques Rogge, a newcomer to the Olympic Movement, to replace him as president, for China to host the 2008 Olympic Games and for his son, Juan Antonio Samaranch junior, to become an IOC member. He got all three wishes. Samaranch's death came three months before his 90th birthday on April 21st, 2010. Samaranch became the president of the IOC in   _  .
Spain London Paris Moscow