Won Yun-jong Becomes Third Korean IOC Athletes’ Commission Member in History; President Lee Also Offers “Heartfelt Congratulations”

[Financial News] Won Yun-jong, a bobsleigh “legend” and silver medalist in four-man bobsleigh at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics, has been elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission.
On February 19 (Korea time), the IOC announced that Won received 1,176 votes in the Athletes’ Commission election held at the Chefs de Mission meeting hall (CDM) in the Milan athletes’ village in Italy. He finished first among 11 candidates. A total of 2,393 athletes cast ballots in this election, in which 11 candidates ran for two available seats, meaning Won secured close to a majority of all votes cast.
Joining Won on the Athletes’ Commission is Johanna Talihärm of Estonia, a biathlete who also competed at these Games. Their terms will last eight years, and they will serve as Athletes’ Commission members through the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics in 2034.
Won is now the 13th Korean IOC member overall and the third Korean ever elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. He follows Moon Dae-sung, a taekwondo athlete who became the first Korean Athletes’ Commission member at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, and Yoo Seung-min, a table tennis player and current president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC), who was elected at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
He is also the first Korean from a winter sport to serve on the IOC Athletes’ Commission. Previously, short track speed skater Jeon I-gyeong ran in the election at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and skeleton athlete Kang Gwang-bae stood as a candidate at the 2006 Turin Games, but both fell short.
With Won’s election to the Athletes’ Commission, Korea now has two IOC members. Kim Jae-yeol, president of the International Skating Union (ISU), had been the country’s only IOC member and was elected to the IOC Executive Board at the IOC Session held ahead of the opening of the Milan–Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
As the leading pilot of the Korean bobsleigh team, Won guided the four-man sled to a silver medal at the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics. It was the first Olympic medal ever won by an Asian nation in bobsleigh.
After retiring from competition, he gained administrative experience as an Athletes’ Commission member of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF). In February last year, he was chosen as Korea’s IOC Athletes’ Commission candidate ahead of figure skater Cha Jun-hwan of Seoul City Hall, and in June he was named one of the IOC’s final list of 11 candidates. During the current Olympics, he ran a sincere and sustained campaign, which ultimately led to his election.
President Lee Jae-myung also sent a congratulatory message via his social media (SNS) after hearing of Won’s election to the IOC Athletes’ Commission. The president said, “I welcome the election of the third Korean IOC Athletes’ Commission member in history,” adding, “In a fiercely competitive race where only two of the eleven candidates could be newly elected, finishing first with the highest number of votes clearly reflects the leadership, trust, and authenticity that Won Yun-jong has demonstrated on the international stage.”
He went on, “The government will actively support his activities as an IOC Athletes’ Commission member and will take responsible part in international discussions on the development of global sport and the protection of athletes,” and added, “I offer my heartfelt congratulations.”
Won, as a newly elected IOC member, will be proposed as an IOC member candidate at the IOC Session on February 22 and will go through a formal approval process. He will then be introduced as a new IOC Athletes’ Commission member at the closing ceremony of the Milan–Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics in Verona that same day, and his official term will begin on February 23.
bng@fnnews.com Kim Hee-sun Reporter