In accordance with the IOC AC regulations and in consultation with the outgoing IOC AC Chair, Kirsty Coventry, the IOC President had appointed Humphrey Kayange (Kenya, rugby) to the IOC AC in order to have a better geographical balance. Following this decision, the IOC EB had also proposed him to the Session for election as an IOC Member, in order to ensure that there is an athlete representative from Africa amongst the IOC Members.
In addition, the IOC EB had agreed to propose recently appointed IOC AC member Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (Norway, cross-country skiing) for election as an IOC Member, in line with the AC regulations. Jacobsen joined the AC earlier this year following the resignation of Kikkan Randall, and will remain on the Commission until the end of her term, which will be at the end of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Both Kayange and Jacobsen were elected as IOC Members by the Session today.
In addition, the IOC Session elected the new Chair of the IOC AC, Emma Terho, as an EB member.
The outgoing members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission are:
- Kirsty Coventry (her status was previously changed to Independent Individual IOC Member, which means that she will remain an IOC Member)
- Danka Bartekova
- Tony Estanguet
- James Tomkins OAM
- Stefan Holm
Today’s elections bring the number of IOC Members to 103 by the end of today.
HRH Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark will leave as an IOC Member and will become an Honorary Member. Prince Frederik had announced in June that he would give up his IOC membership to focus on his duties in Denmark. His resignation was accepted by the IOC.
