Samaranch hospitalized for fatigue

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Juan Antonio Samaranch, former president of the International Olympic Committee, has been hospitalized due to "extreme fatigue," the IOC said Wednesday.

Samaranch — who turned 81 Tuesday — was taken to a hospital in Lausanne on Tuesday night, the IOC statement said.

IOC Director-General Francois Carrard told The Associated Press that Samaranch had suffered breathing difficulties, a problem he has had in the past, but that his condition has improved over night.

He was giving an interview to a Spanish radio station when he became ill, Carrard added.

Samaranch ended his 21-year term as IOC President on Monday when the Belgian Jacques Rogge was elected to replace him at the IOC's meeting in Moscow. He was appointed honorary life president of the IOC.

He returned to Switzerland on Tuesday evening, arriving in Geneva following a three-hour flight from Moscow and then traveled on to Lausanne, where the IOC is based.

"On the flight back Mr. Samaranch did not look at all depressed. On the contrary he was very relaxed," Carrard said.

Carrard said doctors would keep Samaranch in the hospital for several days, and it was likely that he would miss the ceremony in Lausanne on Friday when Rogge will officially receive the keys of the IOC.