Double Olympic champion Alistair
Brownlee has just been appointed, along with Allyson Felix, Oluseyi Smith and
Masomah Ali Zada, to the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic
Committee (IOC) to help represent the athlete voice within the Olympic
Movement. One of them, cyclist Masomah Ali Zada who was born in Afghanistan, is
the first refugee athlete on any IOC commission.
The four athletes were appointed by
IOC President Thomas Bach, in consultation with IOC AC Chair Emma Terho, and in
accordance with IOC AC regulations, which are aimed at ensuring a balance
between genders, regions and sports within the Commission. They can each serve
a term of up to eight years. With these additions, the IOC AC will consist of
14 women and 9 men.
“It’s an honor to be appointed to the
IOC Athletes’ Commission. I am a product of the Olympic movement; watching the
first ever Olympic Triathlon in Sydney inspired me to dream and work hard
towards those dreams. It will be a privilege to represent the athlete’s of the
Olympic movement and play a small part in helping to realise the dream’s of
more young people”, said Alistair after his appointment.
“We are absolutely delighted to have
the voice of one of our most successful and charismatic athletes, Alistair
Brownlee, joining the Athletes’ Commission. His voice, and the voice of all
triathletes around the world, will be taken even more into consideration, and
is again the proof that our sport has a strong presence in the Olympic
movement”, said World Triathlon President, Marisol Casado, an IOC member
herself, as well as a member of six IOC Commissions. "Our most sincere
congratulations, from myself and on behalf of all the Triathlon Family, to
Alistair for this excellent achievement. I'm sure his commitment with the
Movement will be extraordinary and will help us all to continue growing",
she said.
“Athletes are at the very heart of
the Olympic Movement, and it is therefore essential that their voices are heard
within the IOC,” said IOC President Bach. “Those voices must be as diverse as
possible. The appointment of these four new members of the Athletes’ Commission
complements the outstanding skills and experience of the Commission and ensures
we have great representation across different sports and regions of the world.
We look forward to working with each of them in the years ahead as they play a
vital role in representing the interests of the global athlete community.”
The new IOC AC members:
Allyson Felix represented the USA in
athletics at five editions of the Olympic Games, winning seven gold medals and
a total of 11 Olympic medals. Last week, Felix – who is a member of the LA28
Organising Committee Athletes’ Commission – announced her retirement at the
World Athletics Championships in Oregon (USA), and she leaves the sport as the
most decorated female athlete in Olympic track and field history.
Alistair Brownlee competed for Great
Britain in triathlon at three editions of the Olympic Games, winning gold
medals at both London 2012 and Rio 2016. He has since served as a member of the
Athletes’ Commission of the European Olympic Committees and on the Athlete
Advisory Committee of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Oluseyi Smith represented Canada at
both the Summer and Winter Games, competing in the 4x100m athletics relay at
London 2012 before switching to bobsleigh and finishing sixth in the four-man
event at PyeongChang 2018. Oluseyi has served as Chair of the Canadian Olympic
Committee’s Athletes’ Commission and also participated in the IOC Young Leaders
programme – which saw him launch a project to help grassroots sports events in
Canada become more sustainable.
Cyclist Masomah Ali Zada competed at
the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team. Having
faced severe challenges and disapproval for cycling competitively in her native
Afghanistan, she was granted asylum in France in 2017, where she was able to
train without fear. In 2019, Ali Zada addressed the International Sports Press
Association (AIPS) Congress in Lausanne (Switzerland), talking about her
efforts to promote cycling for women in her home country, and she is also
studying civil engineering at university in Lille (France).
IOC AC Chair Emma Terho welcomed the
four Olympians to the Commission, saying: “Together with my fellow Commission
members, we are very much looking forward to working together with Allyson,
Alistair, Oluseyi and Masomah. They will bring invaluable expertise and input
to the Commission from athletes in their sports and regions, ensuring that we
represent the voice of athletes around the world.”
The four Olympians will serve in the
Commission alongside newly elected members Martin Fourcade (FRA) and Frida
Hansdotter (SWE). These two athletes were elected by their peers during the
Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, and also became IOC Members.
ABOUT WORLD TRIATHLON
World Triathlon is the international
governing body for the Olympic and Paralympic sport of triathlon and all
related multisport disciplines around the world, including duathlon, aquathlon,
cross triathlon and winter triathlon. Triathlon made its Olympic debut in
Sydney 2000, with a third medal event, the Mixed Team Relay, added to the
programme at Tokyo 2020, while para triathlon was first added to the Paralympic
programme at Rio 2016. World Triathlon is proudly committed to the development
of the sport worldwide, with inclusion, equality, sustainability and
transparency at our core as we seek to help triathletes at all levels of the
sport to be extraordinary.
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