Olympic champion leads tributes to reformer of Games

Samaranch, 89, who headed the IOC for 21 years, had been in a critical condition in hospital in his home city of Barcelona.

He had been admitted after suffering from acute heart failure.

The London 2012 chairman and double Olympic champion Lord Coe said: "I have lost a friend, one that moulded my path through sport from my early 20s and the world has lost an inspirational man.

"A man that has challenged us all to fight for sport, its primacy and its autonomy, a fight he led fearlessly from the front, creating an extraordinary sporting movement that reaches millions of people around the world.

"He was quite simply the most intuitive leader I have ever met."

Samaranch's successor, IOC President Jacques Rogge, said: "I cannot find the words to express the distress of the Olympic Family.

"I am personally deeply saddened by the death of the man who built up the Olympic Games of the modern era, a man who inspired me, and whose knowledge of sport was truly exceptional.

"We have lost a great man, a mentor and a friend who dedicated his long and fulfilled life to Olympism."

Widely regarded as one of the most powerful men in sport, Samaranch was both a powerful and controversial figure during his reign as IOC president from 1980 to 2001. He was made IOC honorary life president on his retirement but suffered ill health.

Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe said: "He was clearly somebody who contributed a tremendous amount to the Olympic movement and in getting it to where it is held in the world today. He is one of those who are responsible for the success of the modern Olympic Games."