Mass Held for Samaranch's Wife

S Y D N E Y, Australia, Sept. 18 -- Hundreds of Olympic officials, dignitaries and friends attended a memorial service for the wife of IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who died shortly after her husband presided over the opening of the Sydney Games.

An overflow crowd of about 350 people packed St. Patrick’sCatholic Church in downtown Sydney today (Sunday night ET) forthe special Mass in the memory of Maria Teresa Samaranch, who diedSaturday in Barcelona, Spain, at the age of 67.

The 30-minute service was held in the same church whereSamaranch attended Mass only a week before his wife’s death. One ofthe priests who co-celebrated the memorial wore white vestmentsadorned with the Olympic rings.

Seated in the front row was Australian swimming icon DawnFraser, whom Samaranch had invited as his personal guest andstand-in as “Olympic first lady” for Friday’s opening ceremony.

Mrs. Samaranch was cremated Sunday in Barcelona, where thefamily received condolences from Spain’s King Juan Carlos and PrimeMinister Jose Maria Aznar.

Too Late

Samaranch, attending his last Olympics as head of the IOC after20 years in office, left Sydney the morning after the ceremony andflew home to be at his wife’s bedside. But she died while Samaranchwas still in the air, two hours before landing in Barcelona.

“She was a wonderful woman,” Samaranch told reporters inBarcelona. “I not only loved her, I admired her.”

Samaranch said his wife had been ill — reportedly with cancer —for several months and he last spoke with her on Sept. 3 beforetraveling to Sydney. He said he was notified of her death bytelephone during the flight to Barcelona.

Will Return to Sydney

Following Tuesday’s service, IOC officials said Samaranch hadreiterated that he plans to return to Sydney, probably by theweekend.

“Under the circumstances, he’s doing as well as can be,” IOCdirector general Francois Carrard said. “He’s following up theprogress of the games. He’s 100 percent in control of himself andthe games.