Michelle Yeoh among new candidates for International Olympic Committee membership
By Bryan Ke
September 11, 2023
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board has proposed eight new embers for election to this year’s IOC Session, with one of the candidates being Michelle Yeoh.
Key details: The IOC Executive Board announced the list of new candidates in a press release on Friday. They will be elected in Mumbai, India, during the 141st IOC Session from Oct. 15 to 17.
Among the list: Yeoh, 61, is part of the Independent Individuals category, which consists of three female candidates and two male candidates.
Joining the Malaysian Oscar winner in that category are Yael Arad, Israel’s first Olympic medalist; Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta, a retired volleyball player who became a Peruvian politician; Hungarian businessman and politician Balázs Furjes; and German sports and events manager Michael Mronz.
Candidates in other categories include Petra Sörling, Jae Youl Kim and Mehrez Boussayene.
Why it matters: IOC President Thomas Bach noted in the press release that the decision to select the new female candidates “reinforces the IOC’s commitment to gender equality by increasing the membership to 44 women, which brings the percentage of women up to 41.1 per cent.”
Bach also said that the candidates, who all have a strong love of sports and a “strong belief in the Olympic values and what the IOC stands for,” will bring “added value” to the IOC’s work due to their “experience and diverse expertise in different walks of life.”
Yeoh’s background: In addition to acting in several films and TV shows over the years, Yeoh has participated in several sporting events in the past and even represented Malaysia in swimming, diving and squash at the national level.
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