Guwahati: Olympic medalist Mary Kom has been unanimously selected to lead the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) Athletes Commission, with table tennis legend Achanta Sharath Kamal chosen to serve as vice-chair of the organisation.
Previously on Monday, it was revealed that Mary Kom, PV Sindhu and Commonwealth Games medalist Achanta Sharath Kamal were among the ten eminent sportspersons who will constitute the new ‘Athletes Commission’ of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).
As per a press release from IOA, the list of 10 members of the commission was announced by Returning Officer (RO) Umesh Sinha in New Delhi on Monday.
“The list constitutes eminent athletes including, Olympic Bronze Medalist and Padma Vibhushan boxer Mary Kom, Double Olympic medalist and Padma Bhushan awardee badminton ace PV Sindhu, Olympic medalist and Padma Shri shooter Gagan Narang, Olympian and Commonwealth Games gold medalist, Padma Shri TT player Achanta Sharath Kamal, Olympian and CWG Gold medalist Padma Shri rower Bajrang Lal, Khel Ratna awardee and Olympic silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, Khel Ratna awardee and Olympian Rani Rampal, Asian Cup Gold winner and Olympian Shiva Keshavan, Olympian and CWG Fencing championship gold medalist and Arjuna Awardee Bhavani Devi and Om Prakash Karhana made it to the Athletes’ Commission, uncontested,” said a press release from IOA.
The elected members were required to choose 8 Sportspersons of Outstanding Merit and pick a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among themselves (SOMs). The deadline to submit an application for SOMs is November 15, 2022, at 4 p.m.
The SOMs will make up the electoral college for the IOA President’s election, which is slated for December 10, 2022, together with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Athletes’ Commission.
The names of 42 athletes who had been nominated by 36 National Sports Federations made up the Athletes’ Commission’s electoral college. The nominations were submitted until November 13, 2022 at 5 pm after which the RO published a provisional list that evening.
A finals list was to be published for voting to elect the remaining candidates after nominated athletes had until noon on November 14, 2022, to remove their names if they so desired. The Athletes’ Commission election took place on November 14. On the morning of November 14, 32 athletes withdrew their names from consideration, leaving 10 athletes to compete for 10 positions as members of the IOA’s Athletes’ Commission.
On examination it was found that the 10 candidates in the final list of candidates fulfilled the requirements of the categories and subcategories of the IOA charter, namely section 2A and 2B, which states, 1) The candidate must have competed in at least 1 of the last 3 Olympic Games or 2) Won a medal at the Commonwealth Games, Asian Games or National Games.
The 10 nominees were declared the IOA’s new Athletes’ Commission’s unanimous winners and members. Certificates of election were distributed by the returning officer.