IOC Athletes' Commission Election
Claudia Bokel is the new chair of the IOC Athletes' Commission, Around the Rings is told.
She was elected Sunday in London by her fellow Commission members, then officially appointed to the two-year term by IOC president Jacques Rogge. Olympian in skeleton Adam Pengilly of Great Britain and four-time Olympic swim champion Alexander Popov of Russia were the other two candidates.
Bokel, 38, now takes over from outgoing headFrank Fredericks of Namibia, both on the Athletes' Commission and in turn on the IOC Executive Board.
"Bokel, a former Olympian fencer, is expected to replace Fredericks on the IOC Executive Board for the duration of her term pending approval by the 124th IOC Session on 26 July 2012," confirms IOC communications chief Mark Adams.
Born in the Netherlands, Bokel also holds a passport from Germany, her home as a three-time Olympian in epee fencing.
She competed at Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000 and Athens 2004, where she won a silver medal. She also took home gold at the 2001 World Fencing Championships and served as an athlete ambassador for Munich's failed bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics.
She was previously vice chair of the Athletes' Commission.
Libyan Olympic Chief Released Unharmed
Ahmed Nabil al-Taher al-Alam, president of the Libyan Olympic Committee, was returned home on Sunday, one week after he was kidnapped.
Al-Alam’s brother, Salah, told The Associated Press he was safe and resting in his home in Tripoli. He added it was unclear why gunmen took his brother.
The AP reports that Salah believes his brother’s kidnappers were a "criminal gang" and that he was only interrogated for 15 minutes during his captivity.
New IRB CEO
Brett Gosper is the new Chief Executive Officer of the International Rugby Board.
A former rugby player, Gosper played for French squad Racing Club and the Australian under-21 side.
Gosper said he joins the IRB at an "exciting time."
"We look forward to the biggest-ever Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the sport returning to the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 with participation at an all-time high and a strong global commercial profile," he said.
Gosper, 53, is the eldest son of Australian IOC member Kevan Gosper.
Written by Ed Hula III.
20 years at #1:
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
