Acting

Guy Drut

Guy Drut (born 6 December 1950) is an Olympic champion and politician who won gold at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal in the 110 m hurdles. In 1996, he became a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Born in Oignies, Pas-de-Calais, France, Drut captured the silver medal in the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, finishing behind the American Rod Milburn. 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's Alejandro Casañas and the American Willie Davenport. After retirement Guy became active in business and politics, with one of his roles being Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports in the conservative government of Alain Juppé 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. In 2006, president Jacques Chirac 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: president of the National Assembly Jean-Louis Debré commented that it gave an unpleasant impression of "self-washing machine" but said it was a "courageous" move that he would not have made; Nicolas Sarkozy, president of the majority party UMP, disapproved such uses of amnesty. Chirac justified it by France's regaining a seat at IOC.