From the ITU website:
**5 April 2005: **It is with a heavy heart that we inform our ITU family about the loss of Michel Gignoux. There is no one who needs an introduction to one of the most instrumental people in the growth of not only ITU, but also our multi-sport worldwide. Michel has battled lymphoma for many years now, but always managed to be at his best when either the sport or the athletes needed him. In the words of ITU President Les McDonald, " He was a gentle leader with a gallic sense of humour. We mourn his passing and will miss him terribly in too many ways to count. To his wife Chantel and daughter Sophie - we know well your loss and our hearts are with you. In the coming days we will find a way to celebrate his life and his conviction to the Olympic dream which inspired him. Michel was not like any other."
For those of us not inform, who was this guy?