(ATR) Three women and the brother of an IOC member are among the six nominations for election to the IOC at the February session in Vancouver.
The women include Marisol Casada Estupinan of Spain, president of the International Triathlon Union, Dagmawit Girmay Berhane, secretary general of the Ethiopian NOC, and Yang Yang of China, a two-time Olympic speedskating gold medalist.
Prince Faisal of Jordan, president of the Jordan NOC, Pat McQuaid, president of the International Cycling Union, and Barry Maister, secretary general of the New Zealand Olympic Committee are also up for election.
Faisal is the brother of Princess Haya Bint Al Hussein, president of the International Equestrian Federation and an IOC member since 2007.
The IOC Executive Board approved the nominations in the opening day of a two-day meeting in Lausanne on Wednesday.
Four of the current 112 IOC members retire this year following the end of their terms of office, but the addition of new members would bring the total to 114.
The IOC members retiring are: Walter Troeger of Germany; Tamas Ajan of Hungary; Zhenliang He of China; and Fernando Lima Bello of Portugal.
With the six new members elected at the IOC Session in Copenhagen in October, the IOC is poised to add a total of 12 new members in the space of four months, an unusually large infusion. But even with the addition of three women, females will number 18 out of 114 IOC members.
Written by Mark Bisson.