John Coates represents one of two Vice Presidents elected at the 136th session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week.
Held via video conference for the first time ever due to the coronavirus pandemic, the session also elected five new IOC members following the proposal of the IOC Executive Board in June.
As for Coates, the 70-year-old is replacing Professor Ugur Erdener in the VP role, while also-elected Ser Miang Ng will be replacing Juan Antonio Samaranch as VP. Coates has served as Vice President within the IOC in the past, spanning 2013-2017 and is current President of the Australian Olympic Committee. He is also Chairman of the Australian Olympic Foundation.
The addition of Mikaela Cojuango Jaworski to the Executive Board now brings the female representation growth rate to 33.3%. The IOC says this session helps demonstrate the organization’s commitment to promoting gender equality within its leadership, with 47.7% of its commission positions held by women.
We reported in May of this year how IOC President Thomas Bach said, “Advancing women in leadership roles in sport is truly a team effort, and I want to thank all those who have contributed to this for their continued support, commitment and inspiration. There is always more that can be done, and we can make progress only if we work on this together.
“By increasing female participation in IOC commissions and the number of female chairs on IOC commissions, the IOC is hearing the female voice more and more and ensuring that women and girls can be empowered by using the powerful platform that sport provides to promote gender equality.”