(ATR) Finnish ice hockey player Emma Terho and U.S. cross country skier Kikkan Randall are the newest members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
Randall, whowon PyeongChang Olympic gold, and Terho received the largest number of votes of six candidates in the election by their peers. Of the 2,919 athletes competing at the Games who were eligible voters, 2,448 cast their ballots.
"I’m very impressed by the active participation of the athletes, and the strong voice of the athletes," said IOC member Nicole Hoevertsz, chair of the election commission. "This itself is a new Olympic record."
Terho is a five-time Olympian for Finland, having won bronze medals in both 1998 and 2010. She is the chair of the athletes’ commission of the Finnish Olympic Committee and the first female member of the board of the Finnish lce Hockey Federation.
"I realize how important it is to actually have the athletes voices heard and I’ve been really happy that the involvement of the athletes has improved," Terho told Around the Rings after the announcement in the Olympic village.
"Athletes have a lot of power and we need to make sure it's used in the right direction."
Randall’s election comes less than 24 hours after she and Jessie Diggins teamed to become the first U.S. cross-country skiers to win Olympic gold in the freestyle team sprint at the Games. The U.S. Nordic skier is a four-time Olympian and was a member of the FIS Athletes’ Commission from 2009-2017.
"It’s so incredible to hear the voting numbers – to hear that the athletes are more engaged than they’ve ever been," Randall said. "It’s a tremendous opportunity to be elected by the athletes and to be able to have this opportunity to go forward and strengthen the Olympic movement."
Randall said anti-doping issues should be the top priority of the athletes' commission.
"I’ve already been actively involved with some discussions coming up with the athletes' commission and coming from a sport like cross-country skiing I think it’s really important to make that process stronger and more apparent," Randall said.
After approval by the IOC Session on Sunday, Terho and Randall will become IOC members for an eight-year term.
New Athletes Charter
Both Randall and Terho will take on the responsibility of the athletes' commission and IOC membership as mothers. Terho has a five-year-old son and three-year-old daughter, while Randall has a nearly two-year-old boy.
Randall and Terho replace outgoing commission members Angela Ruggiero and British IOC member Adam Pengilly, who finish their terms at the close of the 2018 Winter Games. Earlier this month, Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe was appointed Ruggiero's successor to chair the committee.
"The athletes remain at the heart of everything the IOC does and this is done through Agenda 2020," said IOC sport director Kit McConnell, who assisted Hoevertsz and athletes' commission member Stefan Holm with the announcement on Thursday at the Alpensia Olympic Village.
McConnell said an Athletes Charter is being developed. "The Athletes Charter will outline rights and responsibility," he said. "This will be something universally supporting athletes around the world no matter what sport, what age, and what country."
Norwegian cross-country skier Astrid Uhrenholdt (808 votes), Chinese speed skater Hong Zhang (787 votes), Italian luger and six-time Olympic medalist Armin Zoeggler (761 votes) and Spanish skeleton athlete Ander Mirabmbell (664 votes) were the four candidates defeated by Terho and Randall.
Reported by Brian Pinelli in PyeongChang
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