Leadership Change for IOC Athletes Commission

(ATR) U.S. Olympian Angela Ruggiero is poised to become the new president of the IOC Athletes Commission.

The women’s ice hockey gold medalist is the only candidate for the leadership post. The vote will take place Sunday afternoon in Rio de Janeiro ahead of the 2016 Olympics.

The commission will also vote on a new vice president. Zimbabwe swimmer Kirsty Coventry and French canoer Tony Estanguet are the two candidates.

Ruggiero, 36, will succeed Claudia Bokel, the German fencer stepping down after two years as president and eight years as a member of the commission. Ruggiero, elected in 2010 at the Vancouver Olympics, has two years left in her term on the IOC commission, so she’ll relinquish the presidency in 2018 at the Winter Games in Pyeongchang.

The Athletes Commission will meet acrosstwo days in Rio. Following the election on Sunday, the Monday morning meeting will be a joint session with the IOC Executive Board. After that meeting the commission and IOC President Thomas Bach will visit the Olympic Village.

There’s one other election involving the Athletes Commission in Rio that will take place during the Games -- the vote for four seats on the commission. All athletes who compete in Rio are eligible to vote at the Olympic Village. The field includes 24 candidates representing 14 sports. The candidates are equally divided between men and women.

The four winners will be elected for an eight-year term that includes full voting membership as an IOC member. Along with Bokel, members leaving the commission include Dae Sung Moon, Alexander Popov and Yumilka Ruiz Luaces.

Written by Ed Hula.

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