Four Asians will be among 30 athletes vying to be elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission. The nomination list was approved today by the IOC Executive Board with the elections set to take place during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 next year..
Only four positions would be filled among the athletes nominated by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) together with their NOC Athletes’ Commissions.
The four Asians in the list includes Taiwanese badminton player Chou Tien Chen, Japanese fencer Yuki Ota, Iranian volleyball player Mir Saeid Marouf Lakrani and Qatari athlete Mutaz Aissa Barsham.
We think Chou Tien Chen is a “cool player” too!#HSBCBWFbadminton #HSBCRaceToGuangzhou pic.twitter.com/zvc8QWSVic
— BWF (@bwfmedia) August 5, 2019
Commenting on the announcement, Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry, the current Chair of the Athletes’ Commission, said: “It is great to see such a fantastic response from the athlete community with the interest we have received from athletes around the world in this election. I am impressed by the diverse representation of sports and countries, and this demonstrates how much athletes care, and want to share their voice and play a central role in the Olympic Movement. It is exciting to have such a high calibre of candidates, and I wish them all the very best of luck,” Coventry added.
The athletes elected by their peers during the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 will replace Coventry, Vice-Chair Danka Bartekova (Slovakia), Tony Estanguet (France) and James Tomkins (Australia). In addition, an appointed member of the Commission, Stefan Holm (Sweden), will also end his term next year.
All athletes competing at Tokyo 2020 will be able to vote for their representatives during the Games.
The Athletes’ Commission is composed of a maximum of 23 members (12 members directly elected by their peers and a maximum of 11 appointed), who serve a term of eight years.
The vote is held at every Olympic Games, with four members elected at each Summer Games, and two at each Winter Games. Furthermore, the IOC President, in consultation with the commission chair, can appoint further Commission members, to ensure a good balance between regions, genders and sports. The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Commission are elected by the Commission members, and must also be elected members.
Up to 15 members of the commission are IOC members, providing athlete representatives with the same representation within the IOC membership as the International Federations and NOCs. Furthermore, the chair is a member of the IOC Executive Board, to ensure that athletes are part of the decision-making process within the Olympic Movement, which is one of the main responsibilities of the commission, together with supporting athletes’ development in their sporting and non-sporting careers, and serving as a link between the athletes and the IOC.
THE NOMINEES
1. Gaby Diana Ahrens (Nam) Shooting
2. Therese Alshammar (Swe) Aquatics
3. Mutaz Aissa Barsham (Qat) Athletics
4. Danka Bartekova (Svk) Shooting
5. Alistair Brownlee (Gbr) Triathlon
6. Cate Campbell (Aus) Aquatics
7. Chou Tien Chen (Tpe) Badminton
8. Oksana Chusovitina (Uzb) Gymnastics
9. Fedrick Dacres (Jam) Athletics
10. Antonio José Díaz Fernández (Ven) Karate
11. Charles Fernández (Gua) Modern Pentathlon
12. Julian Fletcher (Ber) Aquatics
13. Pau Gasol (Esp) Basketball
14. David Harte (Irl) Hockey
15. Bridgitte Ellen Hartley (Rsa) Canoe
16. Vid Kavticnik (Slo) Handball
17. Humphrey Kayange (Ken) Rugby
18. Pavlos Kontides (Cyp) Sailing
19. Anastasiia Kozhenkova (Ukr) Rowing
20. Santiago Lange (Arg) Sailing
21. Mir Saeid Marouf Lakrani (Iri) Volleyball
22. Ben Youssef Meïté (Civ) Athletics
23. Maxim Mirnyi (Blr) Tennis
24. Yuki Ota (Jpn) Fencing
25. Federica Pellegrini (Ita) Aquatics
26. Thiago Pereira (Bra) Aquatics
27. Ryan Pini (Png) Aquatics
28. Roberto Sawyers Furtado (Crc) Athletics
29. Aikaterini Stefanidi (Gre) Athletics
30. Maja Martyna Wloszczowska (Pol) Cycling
The full list of candidates and their biographies can be downloaded here.
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