Hangzhou, China, October 7, 2023: The result of the first-ever elections for the Olympic Council of Asia’s Athletes Committee was announced at a press conference held at the Main Press Centre for the Hangzhou Asian Games on Saturday, October 7.
The athletes elected are:
· West Asia – Julyana Al Sadeq of Jordan (taekwondo, Female representative) and Husein Alireza of Saudi Arabia (rowing, M).
· East Asia – Ning Ding of China (table tennis, F) and Lee Chun Ho of Hong Kong China (karate, M).
· Central Asia – Zulhumar Dashkinova of Turkmenistan (judo, F) and Merdan Atayev of Turkmenistan (swimmer, M).
· South Asia – Saina Nehwal of India (badminton, F). No male representative was elected as no one was nominated. The OCA will nominate a male athlete to this position.
· Southeast Asia – Ng Shayna of Singapore (bowling, F) and Terry Tae of Singapore (gymnast, M).
A total of 7,785 votes were cast during the course of the Hangzhou Asian Games at election booths at the main Athletes Village as well as five sub-villages and residences in the other host cities.
The election ended at 12 noon on Friday. A total of 26 candidates had put forward their names from the five zones with athletes competing in Hangzhou asked to vote for a male and a female representative from each zone.
The present Chair of the OCA Athletes Committee, Ms. Mikako Kotani, declared the elections as a “success” and revealed many of the candidates had campaigned for the elections with passion.
“I was delighted to see the amount of interest, first in the number of candidates that put their names forward, and then the number of athletes who voted. No matter who won or lost, you are all part of the OCA Olympic Movement in Asia,” Ms. Kotani said.
Tony Tarraf, Director of the OCA Athletes Development Department said: “There was a turnout of 7,785 voters which is more than 66 percent of the number of athletes in Hangzhou. This is a big number and we are happy with the response we had.”
Apart from the elected members, another four will be nominated at a later stage to the OCA Athletes Committee and they will represent future host cities of the Asian Games, both summer and winter games.
The newly-elected members will also decide among themselves who among them will be the Chair and Vice-Chair of the new committee.
“It is good to have elections for the first time as this is a platform where our voices can be heard within the OCA,” was the common view among the athletes at the 19th Asian Games.
This committee will serve until the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan when the next elections are due to take place.
