Golden 25 - #6 - Princess Royal Recruits New IOC Members

(ATR) Princess Anne takes on her most significant role with the IOC as chair of the commission on IOC Member Elections, formerly called the Nominations Commission.

The Princess Royal is number 6 in the Around the Rings Golden 25 for 2016. Now in its 20th year, the survey ranks 25 individuals or events expected to have a major influence on the Olympics in the year ahead.

As the new year begins the number of IOC members will dwindle into the low 90s, far off the membership limit of 115. Retirements will continue in 2016, creating more opportunities for new membership.

Under Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC is to become more "proactive" in the recruitment of IOC members. While this has not been publicly defined, the idea is to select new members from a variety of backgrounds, not only sport. So far only two new members have been named since the adoption of Olympic Agenda 2020, a federation president and an NOC president, neither representing a departure from past nomination practice.

It will be up to Anne and her five colleagues on the commission to begin filling in the ranks with nominees of more diverse backgrounds. These new recruits, depending on their age, will represent the future of the IOC decades from now, so getting the right mix of personalities is a serious task.

The Princess Royal, 65, was elected to the IOC in 1988, a time in which she was also president of the International Equestrian Federation. Her chairmanship of the IOC Member Elections Commission is the first she has held in her IOC tenure.

2015 ranking: unranked

Written by Ed Hula.

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