Death of IOC Honorary Member James Worrall.

INTERNATIONAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE (IOC) Press Release: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is greatly saddened to learn of the death yesterday of IOC Honorary Member James Worrall at the age of 97. Worrall was the flag-bearer for the Canadian Olympic team at the 1936 Berlin Games, where he competed in the 110m and 400m hurdles events. He became an IOC member in 1967 and an honorary member in 1989.

A lawyer and educator, Worrall was a schoolmaster at Upper Canada College in Toronto, a barrister and solicitor and a member of the Ontario Municipal Board as a notary public. He put his talents to work for the Olympic Movement in the administrative field, serving as a member of the IOC Executive Board (1974-1979) and on a number of commissions, including Legislation (1968-1972) and Juridical (1984-1985). He chaired the Commission on Revision of the Charter from 1982 to 1990.

Worrall was active in the Canadian sports movement, playing an influential role as a Board of Directors member for the Organising Committees of the 1976 Montreal Games and the 1988 Calgary Games, and as Chef de Mission for the Canadian Olympic teams in 1956 and 1960. A former President of the Canadian Olympic Committee (1964-1968) and an Honorary Life President of the same body, Worrall had a tremendous impact on the Canadian Olympic Movement. He chronicled his work in the book “My Olympic Journey: Sixty Years with Canadian Sport and the Olympic Games”.

He was a recipient of the IOC Olympic Order (silver), Canadian Olympic Order (gold), and was also an Officer of the Order of Canada.

The IOC expresses its deepest sympathy to James Worrall’s family.