Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic elected a Member of the International Olympic Committee

Former Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic (Photo: Facebook)

ZAGREB, 17 JULY 2020 (Hina/CW) – Former Croatia president Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic is one of five new International Olympic Committee (IOC) members elected by the Executive Board of the IOC on Friday. 

Grabar-Kitarovic, who lost the presidential elections in Croatia earlier this year to Zoran Milanovic after serving five years in office, was one of three females elected at the 136th IOC Session which was held via video conference today. 

“I’m honored to have been elected a Member of the International Olympic Committee. I thank all the members for their confidence. I’ll promote the goals and values of the Olympic Movement with enthusiasm and dedication,” Grabar-Kitarovic, who was elected with 86 votes for and 3 against. said on Twitter on Friday. 

Grabar-Kitarovic underlined the importance of sport in combating challenges that the world is faced with at the moment and its value for all those who wish to be active in sport. 

I have always advocated greater investment in sporting activities for young people and to enable mass access to sporting activities from the earliest childhood as that is the only way to achieve great success and create and develop excellent athletes who promote their homeland and general human values of effort, humanity, persistence and friendship. 

IOC President Thomas Bach said: “With the election of these five candidates, the IOC Session and the entire Olympic Movement would benefit from an extremely valuable range of skills and expertise. We are also bringing up the female membership to 39.”

The other new members are Mrs. Maria de la Caridad Colón Ruenes, Princess Reema Bandar Al-Saud, Mr. Battushig Batbold and Sebastian Coe. 

The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes more than 90 percent of its income to the wider sporting movement, which means that every day the equivalent of 3.4 million US dollars goes to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the world.