Seoul: South Korean Olympic bobsleigh medalist Won Yun-jong will be among 11 candidates running for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission election next year.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the IOC announced the final list of candidates for the election, scheduled to take place during the Winter Olympics from February 6 to 22 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The list, approved by the IOC Executive Board, includes eight men and three women from five different sports and 11 countries.
Won, who led South Korea to a silver medal in the men's four-man bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was selected as the South Korean candidate for the election earlier this year, surpassing figure skater Cha Jun-hwan. The Korean Sport and Olympic Committee (KSOC) submitted Won's application to the IOC in March, and he successfully made it to the final list.
The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes, from two different sports, will replace outgoing members Emma Terho and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, whose eight-year terms conclude next year. According to the IOC, the election will commence on January 30, when the athletes' villages officially open, and continue until February 18. The results are set to be announced on February 19, three days before the closing ceremony.
Won, at 40 years of age, aims to become the third South Korean Olympian elected to the Athletes' Commission, following in the footsteps of Moon Dae-sung, a 2004 Olympic taekwondo champion, and Ryu Seung-min, a 2004 Olympic table tennis gold medalist who is now the KSOC president.
During last year's Paris Summer Games, Park In-bee, an LPGA Hall of Famer and the 2016 Olympic champion, was unsuccessful in her bid for the Athletes' Commission election.
The 10 other candidates running against Won include Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine (freestyle skiing), Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazakhstan (freestyle skiing), Dario Cologna of Switzerland (cross-country skiing), Yohan Goncalves Goutt of Timor-Leste (alpine skiing), Han Cong of China (figure skating), Ilkka Herola of Finland (Nordic combined), Adam Konya of Hungary (cross-country skiing), Magnus Nedregotten of Norway (curling), Johanna Taliharm of Estonia (biathlon), and Marielle Thompson of Canada (freestyle skiing).
According to the IOC, the Athletes' Commission aims to represent athletes and support their development both in sports and other career pursuits. Members of the Athletes' Commission serve eight-year terms and share the same responsibilities and rights as other IOC members.
Candidates must be proficient in English or French, the two official working languages of the IOC. The Athletes' Commission can have a maximum of 23 members, with up to 12 elected by their peers and a maximum of 11 appointed by the IOC president.