Former Reuters Sports Editor Dies at 64

By: E&P Staff Former Reuters Sports Editor Steve Parry died in London Thursday at the age of 64. He had been suffering from a respiratory illness.

Parry served as sports editor from 1982 to 2000 and was a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) press during that period. Speaking to Reuters from Beijing on the day before the Beijing Olympics officially open, IOC President Jacques Rogge offered his condolences.

Parry joined Reuters in 1966 and covered his first Olympic Games in 1968 in Mexico City. He covered track and field at the 1972 and 1976 Games in Munich and Montreal before being promoted to Sports News Editor in 1977.

As sports editor, Parry is best remembered for expanding the sports department at the Reuters. In 1984, he appointed the first Reuters sports correspondents based abroad, putting one correspondent in Paris, and one in Bonn. Parry retired from the wire service after the Sydney Olympics in 2000, and became a consultant to the IOC. He also became a media advisor to London's successful bid for the 2012 Games and later became a press operations consultant to the organziers.

Parry was working for the IOC and London 2012 right up to his death. He had recently been informed by his doctor that his health was not good enough to travel to Beijing.

Reuters current Sports Editor Paul Radford, Parry's former deputy and a close personal friend, said in a statement: "We at Reuters are devastated by the news. Steve was one of the finest journalists Reuters ever had and one of the greatest men I ever knew. He was one of the most revered and respected personalities in the world of sports journalism and a monumental figure in the Olympic movement."