He Zhianliang, an influential person who was instrumental in returning China to the fold of the Olympics, died last January 4 in Beijing. He was 85 years old.

After an absence of almost three decades, He was able to return the country to the Olympics in the 1980s. He was also a key figure in securing the 2008 Summer Games for Beijing.

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While he was an important figure, the Chinese Olympic Committee announced his death without specifying a cause.

He's death came two days before Beijing has entered a formal bid with the International Olympic Committee to host the 2022 Winter Games. If Beijing were to win, it would make them the first city to hold both the Summer and Winter Olympics as well.

"He was the bridge between China and the outside world and, in particular, between China and the I.O.C.," said Susan Brownell, who translated the biography "He Zhenliang and China's Olympic Dream" into English.

She continued, saying that she does not know if there will be anybody else who had the same international understanding and political commitment He needed to have been a bridge all those years.

He was there for the 1952 Summer Games in Helsinki, Finland. It would be the first Olympics in which Communist China would participate for nearly 30 years.

When China fully re-engaged with the international sports world, He was credited with playing a pivotal role in making the country more open to the world.

He was educated in Westerners in high school and took up college in Shanghai. He was fluent in French and English, the official Olympic languages, and was reported to have an approachable personality and an engaging sense of humor.

His qualities helped build trust and long-term relationships within the insular, Eurocentric world of international Olympic politics.

"In those days, the I.O.C. was a club," said Anita DeFrantz, a longtime committee delegate from the United States. "You had to get to know people. He was very serious about his role, and also a delightful person."

TagsHe Zhianliang, Olympics