World champion boxer MC Mary Kom, Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and winter Olympian Shiva Keshavan were among the 10 distinguished sportspersons elected unopposed as members of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Athletes Commission in the polls held in New Delhi on Monday.
The other seven members of the apex body are Tokyo Olympics silver medallist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, 2012 Olympics bronze winner shooter Gagan Narang, ace table tennis player Achanta Sharath Kamal, hockey player Rani Rampal, fencer Bhavani Devi, rower Bajrang Lal and former shot putter OP Karhana.
The 12-member athletes commission will have India’s first individual Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra and former India hockey team captain Sardar Singh in their capacity as members of the corresponding bodies of the International Olympic Committee and Olympic Council of Asia, respectively. Both of them will have voting rights.
Bindra was appointed as member of IOC Athletes Commission in 2018 for an eight-year term, while Sardar was made OCA Athletes Committee member in 2019 for a four-year term. Under the new constitution of the Indian Olympic Association which was adopted on November 10, the athletes’ commission is to have equal representation of male and female members.
Two members of the athlete commission — one male and one female — will be part of the IOA Executive Council, which will be elected on December 10 on the orders of the Supreme Court.
