Manolo Romero, who was pivotal to the growth of the Olympic Games globally by founding the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS), has died at the age of 81 following a battle with cancer.

The Spaniard was first involved at the Olympics at Mexico City 1968, but started working towards the creation of the OBS when he was first in charge of the host broadcast operation at Los Angeles 1984.

He would keep this role for Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, and at Sydney 2000 would cover the Olympics and Paralympics, before the OBS was formed in 2003 by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) under his watch as chief executive.

The OBS then streamlined the host process, becoming a company that broadcasted the Olympics, Paralympics, Winter Olympics, Winter Paralympics and the Youth Olympics.

Romero would continue in his role, before retiring from the Games after London 2012.

Prior to his lengthy career as one of the most influential media personnel in the Olympic Movement, Romero started his career at Spanish broadcaster TVE.

He is also regarded as one of the pioneers of host broadcasting as a concept, first rolling this out at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain before extending this to the Olympics two years later in Los Angeles.

This year, Romero became the first European to be inducted into the United States-based Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame.

At the time of his entry, Romero said: “All of the Olympics have had something special, but the thing I am most proud of is seeing how OBS is today and how it’s still moving forward and is innovative. 

“I am very proud of that.”

Several figureheads from the IOC paid tribute to him including chair of the OBS and IOC member Geraldo Werthein, who called him his “amigo” when making comment.

IOC vice-president and OBS Board member Juan Antonio Samaranch and NBC Olympics and Business President Gary Zenkel referred to him as a “trailblazer”, while European Broadcasting Union (EBU) leader Fernando Pardo called Romero “a genius”.

German broadcaster ARD/ZDF, Britain’s BBC, Canada’s CBC, The Netherlands’ NOS and France’s FTV paid their respects too.

Romero’s successor as chief executive, Yiannis Exarchos, called him “instrumental”.

“His mentorship and leadership were instrumental in my life and his wisdom and work ethic transcended our work together,” said Exarchos.

“The legacy of his guidance still resonates with me every single day of my professional life. 

“Words can’t begin to express how much I will miss him. 

“There was no greater champion of the Olympic Movement, nor anyone whose impact was greater on the world being able to come together and unite through the power of sport.”

Alongside his work with the OBS, Romero founded International Sports Broadcasting, a company that broadcasts major sporting events.

This is now run by his daughter, Úrsula Romero.

He is credited with popularising formats like high-definition television or stereo, globally.

Romero grew up in Seville and earned a degree from the University of Madrid, majoring in telecommunications engineering with a minor in economics.

While working at TVE, he became chair of an EBU working group on exchanging programmes internationally via satellite.

Through the organisation, he worked at the Mexico City Olympics, organising the transmissions for several major broadcasters around the world.

-insidethegames