A host of international figures and dignitaries paid tribute to former International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch on April 22 at the funeral service for the man who changed the Olympics.

Juan Antonio Samaranch AP PHOTO

Tennis star Rafael Nadal was one of the pallbearers who helped carry Samaranch's coffin, draped in the Olympic flag, from Catalonia state headquarters to Barcelona's cathedral, where a solemn and emotional service paid final homage to the 89-year-old Spaniard, who died April 21 from heart failure.

Before the start of Samaranch's time at the helm of the Olympic body, the IOC was cash-strapped, the Olympics were battered by boycotts, terrorism and financial troubles, and no cities wanted to host the games.

But during his 21 years in power, Samaranch transformed the nearly bankrupt IOC, in the process turning the Olympic Games into a thriving, multibillion-dollar industry that cities around the world compete to host.

Samaranch was cremated and then laid to rest April 23 on Montjuic mountain, home to Barcelona's Olympic Stadium.

AP