Pascal Aymar, a well-known and influential figure in the sports and outdoor sector, passed away on May 6, after suffering a heart attack. The 63-year-old Frenchman, based in the Annecy region, was most recently working as a consultant and vice president of the French association Outdoor Sports Valley (OSV). After a stint in the toy industry at Hasbro, Aymar spent 37 years in our sector, starting with positions of increasing responsibility in Europe and Asia at Adidas, Reebok, Salomon and the Scott Sports Group. He also ran the European operations of the Canadian company Coalision for a while. In 2012, Aymar moved into academics, launching and running university-level courses on our industry at the management schools of EMLyon and Inseec, and helping to coordinate the publication of a book in French and English on “The Global Sport Economy.” Eugenio Di Maria, founder of SGI Europe and The Outdoor Industry Compass, collaborated in some of these projects at his request. As an expert in the sector with a great empathy, Aymar was one of the “wise men” chosen by the European Outdoor Group to conduct a series of interviews to help determine whether the European OutDoor show should be moved from Friedrichshafen to Munich.

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