Arne Ljungqvist

Arne Gunnar Gunnarsson Ljungqvist , born April 23, 1931 in Stockholm is a Swedish medical researcher and sports personality. Ljungqvist is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), chairman of IOC's Medical Commission, and vice chairman of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). [ [http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/members/bio_uk.asp?id=63 IOC Member page at Olympic.org for Professor Arne Ljungqvist] , accessed on June 25, 2008] [ [http://www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=771 WADA Management Biographies: Prof. Arne Ljungqvist] , accessed on June 25, 2008] [ [http://www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=290 WADA: Executive Committee] , accessed on June 25, 2008]

Biography

In his youth, Arne Ljungqvist was active in athletics and competed in high jump. He participated in Swedish athletics team in the 1952 Summer Olympics after having been the Swedish high jump champion earlier the same year. He then left competitive sports to finish his medical training.

Academic career

After his medical studies, Ljungqvist went into medical research in the field of oncology at the Karolinska Institute and was later appointed professor. In the last years of his academic career, he was rector of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Stockholm from 1992 to 1996, an institution which has close collaboration with the Karolinska Institute in the field of sports medicine.

Sports official

In the 1970s, he took on several roles as a sports official, first on the national level in Sweden and soon after in international organizations. He became a council member of the Swedish Athletic Association in 1970, and was its president from 1973 to 1981. He became a council member of the umbrella organization for Swedish sport, the Swedish Sports Confederation, in 1975, and was its president from 1989 to 2001. His international career as a sports official started when he became a council member of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 1976. He was one of IAAF's vice presidents from 1981 to 1999, and IAAF's senior vice president 1999-2007.

In 1994, he was elected a member of the IOC, and became the chairman of its Medical Commission in 2003.

Sports medicine and anti-doping work

Drawing benefit of his combined medical and sports background, Arne Ljungqvist was president of the Swedish Council of Sports Research from 1980 to 1993. In 1987, he became a member of IOC's Medical Commission, which has chaired since 2003. In these positions, Ljungqvist took notice of the increasing problems of doping in competitive sports, and its health consequences, and became a leading figure in anti-doping work. He became a board member of WADA when it was created in 1999, and later its vice chairman. He is also chairman of WADA's Health, Medical & Research Committee. [ [http://www.wada-ama.org/en/dynamic.ch2?pageCategory.id=294 WADA: Health, Medical & Research Committee] , accessed on June 25, 2008]

Sources