Olympic bobsleigh medalist Won Yun-jong among 11 candidates for IOC Athletes’ Commission election

South Korean Olympic bobsleigh medalist Won Yun-jong will be among 11 candidates running for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission election next year.

The IOC on Friday unveiled the final list of candidates for the election, which will take place during the Feb. 6-22 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Approved Thursday by the IOC Executive Board, the list features eight men and three women from five different sports and 11 countries.

Won, who piloted South Korea to the silver medal in the men’s four-man bobsleigh at the 2018 Winter Olympics, was chosen as the South Korean candidate for the election, ahead of figure skater Cha Jun-hwan, in February. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) then submitted Won’s application to the IOC in March, and Won made the cut.

The two candidates receiving the highest number of votes, from two different sports, will replace outgoing Emma Terho and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, whose eight-year terms will end next year. According to the IOC, the election will begin on Jan. 30, when the athletes’ villages will officially open, and will run until Feb. 18. The results will be announced Feb. 19, three days before the closing ceremony.

Won, 40, will try to become the third South Korean Olympian to be elected to the Athletes’ Commission, joining the 2004 Olympic taekwondo champion Moon Dae-sung and the 2004 Olympic table tennis gold medalist Ryu Seung-min, who is currently president of the KSOC.

During last year’s Paris Summer Games, Park In-bee, an LPGA Hall of Famer and the 2016 Olympic champion, came up short in the Athletes’ Commission election.

“I feel honored to be competing with great athletes that represent their countries and sports,” Won said. “I will try to be the first winter sports athlete from South Korea to be elected.”

Won said Ryu congratulated him on his nomination.

“I will try to pick his brains and learn from his successful election,” Won said of Ryu, who had been elected in 2016. “As the only sliding sports athlete, I will try to carry myself with a sense of responsibility and meet a lot of other athletes to hear what they have to say.”

The 10 other candidates competing against Won are: Oleksandr Abramenko of Ukraine (freestyle skiing); Zhanbota Aldabergenova of Kazkhstan (freestyle skiing); Dario Cologna of Switzerland (cross-country skiing); Yohan Goncalves Goutt of Timor-Leste (alpine skiing); Han Cong of China (figure skating); Ilkka Herola of Finland (Nordic combined); Adam Konya of Hungary (cross-country skiing); Magnus Nedregotten of Norway (curling); Johanna Taliharm of Estonia (biathlon); and Marielle Thompson of Canada (freestyle skiing).

According to the IOC, the mission of the Athletes’ Commission is to represent fellow athletes and support their development in their sporting and non-sporting careers.

Athletes’ Commission members serve an eight-year term, but otherwise have the same responsibilities and rights as other IOC members.

The candidate must be able to communicate effectively in English or French, the two official working languages of the IOC.

The Athletes’ Commission can have a maximum 23 members, with up to 12 voted by peers and a maximum 11 appointed by the IOC president.