GENEVA, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Walther Troger, an Honorary International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, has passed away at the age of 91.

Troger, who became an IOC member in 1989 and an Honorary member in 2010, is also a former IOC sports director and member of the Olympic Order.

"Walther Troger made a great contribution to the IOC, first as its sports director, then as a member and lately as an Honorary member," said IOC President Thomas Bach.

"I got to know him as a person with a great passion for sport and an immense knowledge about the Olympic Movement already when we met for the first time in the 1970s, when he was secretary general of the NOC and I was an athlete.

"In all his activities over the many years, Walther Troger worked tirelessly in the administration of sport and made a major impact on the development of German and international sport."

Having first embarked on a career in sports administration when he became secretary general of the German Student Sports Association in 1953, Troger went on to join the German Sports Confederation (1961-1970) and the National Olympic Committee (NOC), where he served as Secretary General between 1970 and 1992, and as President for 10 years until 2002.

After becoming an IOC member, he was a member of the Coordination Commissions for Nagano 1998 and Salt Lake City 2002, plus the Evaluation Commission for the 2006 Winter Olympics.

Troger also sat on the IOC's Olympic Program Commission, Olympic Solidarity Commission and Sport for all Commission.

The IOC said that the Olympic flag at its headquarters would be flown half-mast for three days in a mark of respect following Troger's passing. Enditem

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