Milan, Italy, February 5, 2026: Soraya Aghaei Haji Agha became the first female member from Iran to be elected by the IOC.
Olympian Aghaei, 30, was elected for an eight-year term as an IOC Member during the 145th IOC Session on Wednesday, February 4, ahead of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
She is the youngest IOC Member.
Aghaei joins the global Olympic body when it is led by its first female president in its 132-year history – Kirsty Coventry. Women now comprise 45 per cent of the IOC membership.
IOC President Coventry, welcoming her as an IOC Member, said: “I think she is going to be an incredible asset to the IOC.”
Aghaei, who competed at Tokyo 2020 and was the first female badminton player to represent Iran at the Olympic Games, became the 107th member of the IOC by a 95-2 vote. The IOC membership currently stands at 107 Members – 48 women and 59 men.
A member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission since December 2025, Aghaei is just the third-ever Iranian representative at the IOC and the first since 2004. She is also a member of the Athletes’ Commission of the National Olympic Committee of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
