Leonard Cuff

Leonard Albert Cuff ( born March 28, 1866 in Christchurch, New Zealand, † October 9, 1954 in Launceston in Tasmania, Australia ) was a major athlete and sports official in New Zealand and a founding member of the International Olympic Committee.

Life and work

Cuff was in his sporty active time best long jumpers in New Zealand. As a 1887 New Zealand Amateur Athletics Association ( NZAAA ) was founded, Cuff was not only one of the founding fathers, but he also took over the position of General Secretary, which he held until 1896.

1890 organized a competition Cuff first trip to New Zealand amateur athletes outside their home country, which led to the Australian continent, where she took part in the championships of the independent British colonies of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The eight New Zealand athletes, with Cuff actively participated, won twelve contests in seven first places, five second places and two third places. This success encouraged influential circles in New Zealand to send the team to England to take part in the British Championships 1892. The company became a national task, because not only that you athletic performance in the colonies generally regarded in the mother country England with skepticism, the presence of a New Zealand sports teams would be a demonstration of the growing self- consciousness and national pride of the colonists.

Four athletes traveled together with cuff under his leadership to London. Here was the interest, the curiosity but also the respect great, because no one had taken the long journey halfway around the world to himself in order to meet a competition with British elite athletes. The London-based Amateur Athletic Association (AAA ), which had a higher-level function for all sports associations within the British Empire, transferred the care of the New Zealand guests to one of their most important functionaries, Charles Herbert. Herbert suggested Cuff ago, the New Zealand athletes should participate in a sports festival in Paris that the Union des Sociétés Francaises Athletiques Sports ( USFSA ) organized on the occasion of their fifth anniversary of its existence. Secretary General of the USFSA was Pierre de Coubertin.

Cuff and the other New Zealand athletes held only two days in Paris. Inevitably, there was also a meeting of Cuff and Coubertin, with little more than pleasantries and organizational issues were exchanged. Nevertheless, this brief encounter should have consequences.

Coubertin, of the revival of the Olympic Games followed with an international sports conference in 1894 at the Sorbonne in Paris, would go down as the first Olympic Congress in the story later, required for this purpose a possible international and global participation. The Australasian region should be represented. On the recommendation of Charles Herbert Cuff received by Coubertin an invitation to Congress. Unlike many other personalities with whom Coubertin engaged in a lively exchange of views before the Congress, Cuff was on the project Coubertin's ill-informed and could form no idea of the Olympic Games, consequently. This fact should influence Cuffs later action strong.

On the list of honorary members of Congress was also the name of Cuff, but like many other people on this list, he was not actually present in Paris. For Coubertin presented this presents no obstacle Cuff nevertheless will be appointed as a member of the International Olympic Committee, which was established on June 23, 1894, the last day of the Congress. Coubertin familiar to cuff links to the sports associations in Australasia and Cuffs interest in international sport so when adopted by the Congress alignment of the First Olympic Games in Athens in 1896 a participation of as many nations was guaranteed. Cuffs call to the IOC had for Coubertin but also a second reason, Cuff gave New Zealanders as the committee but by an international flair and prestige, which Coubertin should be useful for the realization of his ideas.

Cuffs efforts for the participation of New Zealand or Australian athletes at the Games in Athens were unsuccessful. On one hand, lacked the financial support for the deployment of an official team, which would under the name Australasia to start, on the other hand, the Olympic Games were not taken seriously by the Europe of distant British colonies for their national development. The only Australians in Athens, Edwin Flack, lived in London and took on a purely private initiative in the games. With his victories in the 800 -meter run and the 1500 - meter race grew up in Australia and New Zealand, however, suddenly the interest in the Olympic Games.

Cuff had given up at the same time a number of offices in various sports organizations, including the Secretary General of the NZAAA due to professional and local change. In 1897 he moved to Melbourne. His participation in various sports congresses begat despite resignation from his position that he was still a man of influence in the sports events of Australasia. Also Coubertin held to Cuff, although this was not a big effort more to work for the spread of the Olympic Movement in Australasia. Meanwhile, there were other people who accepted this task, in particular Richard Coombes, who had a significant role in the Amateur Athletics Union of Australasia ( AAUA ), a newly formed umbrella organization of national sports associations in the region.

1899 moved to Tasmania to cuff. His influence on the sporting events now took noticeably. Also Coombes had now established their own contacts to Coubertin. Finally it came between cuff and Coombes to inconsistencies, because Cuffs inactivity in the IOC saw Coombes as an obstacle to the further development of the international sporting world of Australasia. For Coubertin, the exclusion of certain members of it would have been unthinkable. He was also informed about events in the distant regions only slightly. It was not until 1905 that the cuff of himself declared his resignation from the IOC and Richard Coombes recommended as his successor.

As a cricketer, he completed between 1886/87 and 1904 /05 a total of 24 first-class matches for Auckland, Canterbury and Tasmania.

Cuff died in 1954 as the last of the 13 founding members. However, in most publications, he is remembered as a person that was in any IOC Congress in any IOC session and at no Olympics here.

Since 2000, Leonard A Cuff Medal is awarded for "contribution to Olympism in New Zealand".