MADRID, 19 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs has been elected the new vice president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a position he already held from 2016 to 2020, at the 139th session of the body, meeting this Saturday in Beijing on the occasion of the Winter Olympics.
Samaranch Jr., son of Juan Antonio Samaranch Torelló, president of the IOC from 1980 to 2001, will begin his vice presidency on May 20, after the conclusion of the 139th session of the IOC. In addition, he will join the Board of Directors of the organization together with the Serbian Nenad Lalovic and the Italian Ivo Ferriani, a mandate that will last four years.
The assembly has also voted for the incorporation of five new members, who will assume their status for eight years: the athlete Yiech Pur Biel, a member of the Rio 2016 refugee Olympic team; Slovak shooter Danka Bartekova; Frenchman David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union (UCI); Swedish skier Frida Hansdotter and French biathlete Martin Fourcade, both also elected this week as members of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
In addition, Aruban leader Nicole Hoevertsz was re-elected as a member, and Dane Poul-Erik Hoyer reported that, for personal reasons, he would not be eligible for re-election. Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant and Auvita Rapilla were also re-elected as members of the Ethics Commission. This Saturday’s elections bring the number of IOC members to 106.