IOC Athletes’ Commission election to be a ‘war of the stars’

“Volleyball Empress” Kim Yeon-kyung (35) and “Golf Empress” Park In-bi (35) announced their intention to run for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission election on Thursday. Due to this, it seems that the selection match for the Korean representative for the IOC Athletes’ Commission will be held as a four-way match with two ‘empresses’ in addition to “Shooting Emperor” Jin Jong-oh (44) and “Mr. Taekwondo” Lee Dae-hoon (31). Only one of these four athletes, who has been the household name for each sport, will be able to run as a candidate for the IOC Athletes’ Commission election to be held during the Paris Olympics in July next year.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee sent an official letter to each sports organization on July 21 asking them to recommend a Korean representative for the IOC Athletes' Commission. In addition, the Korea Volleyball Association delivered an official letter to Heungkuk Life Insurance, a women's professional volleyball team to which Kim Yeon-kyung belongs, and in return, Kim Yeon-kyung expressed her intention to run. Park In-bi, a gold medalist in women's golf at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, has also conveyed to the Korea Golf Association of her intention to join the IOC Athletes' Commission.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee will receive recommendations from organizations for each sport by 6 p.m. on Friday, and then select one candidate by conducting a document review and in-person interview. Document screening will consist of 10 evaluation items, including each candidate's achievements as an athlete. The interview also includes a presentation in English. The IOC stipulates that "they must be fluent in English" as one of the qualifications of the Athletes’ Commission members. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee plans to recommend one final candidate to the IOC by Sept. 1 at the latest following the assessment for three weeks.

Athletes selected to represent Korea must participate in campaign activities during the Paris Olympics and rank in the top 4 in a vote cast directly by national athletes to qualify as an IOC Athletes Commissioner. Korea has so far produced two IOC Athletes' Commissioners. Moon Dae-seong (47), Special Assistant for International Cooperation at Kukkiwon, who was the first Korean as well as Asian to become an IOC Athletes’ Commissioner, won first place among 31 candidates at the 2008 Beijing Games, and Yoo Seung-min (41), president of the Korea Table Tennis Association, was elected to the IOC Athletes Commission at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games in second place out of 23 candidates.


hun@donga.com