Longtime International Olympic Committee member Peter Tallberg of Finland has died after a battle against with cancer, the IOC said on Saturday. He was 77.

IOC president Thomas Bach described Tallberg as "my first teacher at the IOC" and said "the athletes of the world and all those who love sport owe him a huge debt."

Tallberg was a sailor who competed in five Olympics between 1960 and 1980, with his best result a fourth-place finish in the Star class in 1964 at Tokyo. He became an IOC member in 1976, and was the founding chairman of its athletes' commission.