Guy Drut (born 6 December 1950) is an

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion and politician who won gold at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in the 110 m

hurdles Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

. In 1996, he became a member of the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC).

Biography

Sports career

Born in

Oignies Oignies (; pcd, Ongnies) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Oignies is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial town, northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D46 and ...

Pas-de-Calais Pas-de-Calais (, " strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, Drut captured the silver medal in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

, finishing behind the American

Rod Milburn Rodney "Rod" Milburn Jr. (May 18, 1950 – November 11, 1997) was an American athlete who won gold at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich in the 110m hurdles. Career During the early 1970s, Milburn dominated the 110m hurdles, tying or breaking ...

. In the European Championship of 1974 Drut came a comfortable first. It was at the next Olympics that Guy was to realise his dream, winning the 110 m hurdles in a time of 13.30 ahead of

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

Alejandro Casañas Alejandro Francisco Casañas Ramírez (born January 29, 1954) is a former Cuban hurdler. At the 1977 Summer Universiade in Sofia he set a new world record in the 110 m hurdles with a time 13.21 seconds. This record would, however, only stand ...

and the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

Willie Davenport William "Willie" D. Davenport (June 8, 1943 – June 17, 2002) was an American sprint runner. He attended Howland High School and college at Southern University and A&M College in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He competed in the 110 m hurdles at the ...

Political career

After retirement Guy became active in business and

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

, with one of his roles being Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the conservative government of

Alain Juppé Alain Marie Juppé (; born 15 August 1945) is a French politician. A member of The Republicans, he was Prime Minister of France from 1995 to 1997 under President Jacques Chirac, during which period he faced major strikes that paralysed the coun ...

from 1995 to 1997. He has been convicted by French courts (a 15-month suspended prison sentence) at the end of 2005 for accepting fictitious employment as political patronage; as a consequence suspended by the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

. In 2006, president

Jacques Chirac Jacques René Chirac (, , ; 29 November 193226 September 2019) was a French politician who served as President of France from 1995 to 2007. Chirac was previously Prime Minister of France from 1974 to 1976 and from 1986 to 1988, as well as Ma ...

amnestied Drut, using a rarely used clause in a 2002 amnesty law authorizing the president to grant amnesty for certain categories of crimes to people who had made great contributions to France in certain fields. The move caused great controversy, including within the majority members of

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

: president of the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

Jean-Louis Debré Jean-Louis Debré (; born 30 September 1944) is a former French judge and politician who served as President of the National Assembly from 2002 to 2007 and President of the Constitutional Council from 2007 to 2016.Nicolas Sarkozy Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa (; ; born 28 January 1955) is a French politician who served as President of France from 2007 to 2012. Born in Paris, he is of Hungarian, Greek Jewish, and French origin. Mayor of Neuilly-sur-Se ...

, president of the majority party UMP, disapproved such uses of amnesty. Chirac justified it by France's regaining a seat at IOC. Drut is serving on the IOC's Evaluation Commission for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

International competitions

¹ Did not finish in the final

References

External links

*
Amnesty law of 6 August 2002
article 10 {{DEFAULTSORT:Drut, Guy 1950 births Living people Sportspeople from Pas-de-Calais Politicians of the French Fifth Republic French male hurdlers International Olympic Committee members French sportsperson-politicians Athletes (track and field) at the 1972 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1976 Summer Olympics Olympic athletes of France Olympic gold medalists for France Olympic silver medalists for France Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1976 Summer Olympics European Athletics Championships medalists Officers of the Ordre national du Mérite European champions for France Olympic gold medalists in athletics (track and field) Olympic silver medalists in athletics (track and field) Deputies of the 12th National Assembly of the French Fifth Republic Mediterranean Games gold medalists for France Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics Athletes (track and field) at the 1971 Mediterranean Games