Sports/Alive News: Olympic medallists PV Sindhu and Mirabai Chanu are among 10 athletes elected unopposed to the Indian Olympic Association’s (IOA) Athletes Commission for the 2026-2030 term. The announcement was made by Returning Officer Sanjay K Srivastava on Tuesday.
The commission will have five male and five female members. The voting scheduled for November 3 was cancelled after former athlete Sudha Singh and badminton player Kidambi Srikanth withdrew their nominations. With only 10 candidates remaining for 10 positions, all members were elected unopposed.
List of 10 Elected Athletes
The commission includes six athletes who have participated in at least one of the last three Olympic Games and four athletes who have won medals at major international or national competitions.
The six Olympic-category members are Harmanpreet Singh, Sajan Prakash and Tajinderpal Singh Toor among men, and PV Sindhu, Mirabai Chanu and Bombayla Devi among women.
The remaining four members are Swapnil Kusale and Manjeet Singh in the men’s category, and Salima Tete and Bhavani Devi in the women’s category.
Shiva Keshavan and Rajeshwari Kumari, who represent India on the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Athletes’ Commission, will also be ex officio members.
Chairman and Vice-Chairman Election on November 7
The newly elected members will choose the chairman and vice-chairman on November 7 through virtual voting. Only the six members from the Olympic category will be eligible to contest these positions.
A total of 12 members, including the two OCA representatives, will participate in the voting. One male and one female athlete will be elected to the two posts.
Role in IOA Executive Council
The chairman and vice-chairman will also become members of the IOA Executive Council. Two additional representatives, one male and one female, will join the IOA General Body with voting rights.
The IOA Executive Council election is scheduled for December 5. Hockey player Salima Tete, aged 24, cannot contest the chairman or vice-chairman election because the minimum age requirement is 25. However, she is eligible to contest for a General Body representative position.
