Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh has been elected an International Olympic Committee member
ByThe Associated Press
October 17, 2023, 4:07 AM
Oscar-winning actress and UNDP Goodwill Ambassador Michelle Yeoh addresses a media conference on road safety at EU headquarters in Brussels, Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)
The Associated Press
MUMBAI, India — Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh has been elected as a member of the IOC.
The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday voted in eight new members to make a total of 107 drawn from royal families, sports officials, current and former athletes plus leaders from politics and industry.
Members’ work at annual meetings includes approving recommended candidates as future Olympic Games hosts. They could be asked in Paris next July to change Olympic rules that would let IOC president Thomas Bach seek a third leadership term in 2025 beyond the current 12-year limit.
Yeoh, who has ties to the United Nations representing her home country Malaysia, was elected in a 67-9 vote by her new colleagues. The accolade came in the same year as her Oscar win for best actress in “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”
Yeoh also is an international campaigner for road safety in partnership with her husband, Jean Todt, the former head of the Ferrari team in Formula One racing. He was president of the motorsports governing body known by its French acronym FIA.
The only unanimous vote was the 76-0 result in favor of Cecilia Tait, a twice-elected congresswoman in Peru and a three-time Olympian in volleyball. Tait helped Peru’s women take silver at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
The first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, Yael Arad, also was elected Tuesday, 71-5. Now president of Israel’s national Olympic body, she took silver in judo at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Other new members include Hungarian government sports executive Balázs Fürjes and officials from Germany, Michael Mronz, and Tunisia, Mehrez Boussayene.
Two recently elected presidents of governing bodies in Olympic sports got membership: Petra Sörling of Sweden from table tennis and Kim Jae-youl of South Korea from the International Skating Union.
The new members swore the Olympic oath in front of their colleagues before the closure of a three-day meeting in Mumbai, India.
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