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Federica Pellegrini One of Four Athletes Elected to IOC Athletes’ Commission
Italian swimmer Federica Pellegrini was one of four athletes to be elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission this week.
Pellegrini and the other three successful candidates were chosen from a field of 30 applicants. They will become full members of the IOC for the next seven years, through the close of the 2028 Olympics.
Joining Pellegrini on the commission are Spanish basketball player Pau Gasol, Japanese fencer Yuki Ota and Polish cyclist Maja Martyna Wloszczowska.
They replace four outgoing members of the commission, including chair Kristy Coventry of Zimbabwe. Also leaving the committee are Danka Bartekova of Slovakia, France’s Tony Estanguet and James Tomkins of Australia. Stefan Holm of Sweden is separately departing the Athletes’ Commission, and one of the 26 unsuccessful candidates could be appointed to fill his spot, as determined by Coventry and IOC president Thomas Bach. An election will be held this week to see who fills the chair and vice-chair roles. The four new members will be sworn in Sunday in Tokyo during the final day of the IOC session.
Gasol led the balloting with 1,888 votes. Pellegrini was third with 1,658. Bartekova missed out on re-election with 1,278 votes. Balloting was conducted in the Olympic Village and satellite residencies in Tokyo. The IOC revealed that 6,825 athletes voted across the 11 voting stations.
Pellegrini posted a thank you to those that voted for her on her social media Wednesday:
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Pellegrini, who turns 33 on Thursday, finished seventh in the 200 freestyle at the Tokyo Games and anchored the Italian 400 medley relay to sixth place and the mixed medley relay to fourth. She also scratched out of the 100 free and was part of the Italian 800 free relay that got disqualified in prelims. She has announced her intention to retire from swimming after the upcoming International Swimming League season.
Her longevity in the sport is nearly unmatched, having won silver in the 200 free at the 2004 Athens Games and gold four years later in Beijing. She was Italy’s flag bearer at the 2016 Olympics. Pellegrini holds the world record in the 200 free and the European record in the 400 free, both dating to 2009.
Other swimming candidates included Sweden’s Therese Alshammar, Australian Cate Campbell, Julian Fletcher of Bermuda, Ryan Pini of Papua New Guinea and Brazil’s Thiago Pereira.
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