Angelos Bolanaki
Άγγελος Βολανάκη
Bolanaki c. December 1904
Born	Angelos Khristos Bolanaki 20 May 1878 Alexandria, Egypt
Died	26 July 1963 Lausanne, Switzerland
Occupation	Sports administrator
Awards	Olympic Diploma of Merit (1949)

Angelos Khristos Bolanaki^[a] (20 May 1878 – 26 July 1963) was an Egyptian Greek athlete and sports official. In his early years, Bolanaki represented Egypt in international competitions in running and tennis. In 1910, Bolanaki became the first member of the International Olympic Committee from Egypt. He founded the Egyptian Olympic Committee that year as well. In 1932, he resigned as a representative of Egypt, and represented Greece instead starting in 1933. He received the Olympic Diploma of Merit in 1949, the same year he became the doyen of the Committee, which he would continue to be until his death.

Angelos Bolanaki was born on 20 May 1878 in Alexandria. His father, Christos Bolanaki, owned and operated a distillery there, which produced cognac, rum, and whiskey. The distillery was a successful venture, taking up a space of 90,000 square metres, employing 300 people, and exporting their products as far away as England. As a result, the Bolanaki family became one of the wealthiest and most influential families in Egypt.^[1]

In his early years, Bolanaki established himself as both a remarkable tennis player and a sprinter, not only in his native Egypt, but internationally as well. In 1896, while studying at the Lycée Condorcet in Paris, France, Bolanaki won the French schools tennis championship.^[1][2][3] He first trained as a sprinter on the grounds of Racing Club de France at the age of 17. In 1898, he won first prize in the 150 yard race in the annual games of the Alexandria Amateur Athletic Club. The following year, he won the 100, 150, and 200 yard races at the same event. In 1902, Bolanaki was deemed the "The Champion of Three Continents" by the French journal L'Education Physique. He earned the moniker by winning the 100, 150, and 220 yard races of the Alexandria Amateur Athletic Club games, the 100 and 200 meter races at the Panionian Club in Smyrna, and the 100 meter race at the Panhellenic races in Athens.^[2] During this string of performances, he recorded a time of 10.8 seconds in the 100-meter sprint, which would have equaled the world record mark at the time, however it is unclear when or where Bolanaki set this time.^[1][4] These performances have led to Bolanaki being deemed "Egypt's first international athlete" by the Egyptian Olympic Committee.^[5]

Bolanaki first met Pierre de Coubertin in 1906 and became a supporter of the Olympism soon after that.^[6] He also had a connection with International Olympic Committee vice-president Godefroy de Blonay, as evidenced by correspondence between the pair.^[1] In 1908, he established the Mixed Federation for Sport Clubs in Alexandria to organize the various bodies of sport in the city. Following that, he began hosting and organizing annual national athletic championships both in Alexandria and in Cairo. In 1910, his organization became the national sports federation in Egypt, as decreed by the Khedive Abbas II of Egypt.^[1][7]

In 1910, Bolanaki became the 66th official member of the International Olympic Committee. He was the first ever representative from an African nation.^[8]

de Coubertin gifted Bolanaki the first Olympic flag, which he displayed for the first time on 5 April 1914, during the opening of the stadium in Shatby in Alexandria, for the first Panegyptian Games. In 1960, Bolanaki gifted the original flag to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, where it remains today.^[9]

Construction began on Alexandria Stadium in 1921. Bolanaki himself donated E£1,000 to help fund its construction, and it was ready in time for the planned 1929 African Games, however these Games were scrapped as many participant countries were still under European rule.^[10]

Bolanaki was heavily involved during the formative years of the African Games. In 1923, the IOC decided that the first Games would take place in Algiers in 1925 and in Alexandria in 1927. The following year, however, it was decided that instead the initial Games would be deferred to 1927 in Alexandria, as difficulties arose during the planning of the Games in Algiers. Bolanaki was named the director general of the Games. In Prague in 1925, Bolanaki presented before the IOC and declared that the Games would be set to open on 16 April 1927 and would last for two weeks. However, a delay in Alexandria Stadium's construction occurred, and Bolanaki requested that the Games be pushed to 5 April 1929, which the IOC allowed. Ultimately, with just weeks before the Games were set to begin, colonial powers England and France objected to the events, and the Games did not occur.^[11]

In 1950, Bolanaki was the chairman of a special commission related to art competitions at the Olympics called on by then-President of the IOC Sigfrid Edström. At the time, debates were held as to whether the competitions should be scrapped, as many of the competitors were professional artists, breaking the spirit of amateurism at the Games. In his report, Bolanaki argued in favor of keeping the competitions, arguing that artists are their own category: neither amateur nor professional. In 1951, the IOC decided to keep the art competitions, although this decision came to late to take effect for the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. Ultimately, art competitions have not occurred at the Games since the 1948 edition.^[12]

Bolanaki, along with Egyptian IOC member Muhammed Taher Pasha, was a supporter of the 1953 Arab Games, held in Alexandria.^[13]

• Jordano53/sandbox4 at Olympedia (archive)

Category:1878 births Category:1963 deaths Category:Egyptian International Olympic Committee members Category:Egyptian male sprinters Category:Egyptian male tennis players Category:Greek International Olympic Committee members Category:Greek male sprinters Category:Greek male tennis players Category:Lycée Condorcet alumni