The new eight-strong European Athletes Commission for the 2018-2021 quadrennial, chaired by Estonian discus thrower Gerd Kanter, which includes six elite athletes from summer and two from winter sports, elected last October at the EOC Athletes’ General Assembly in the Principality of Monaco, has grown to 12 members following the EOC Executive Committee’s decision to co-opt a further four athletes.

At its meeting in Lausanne last Thursday 18 January, the EC indeed decided not just to co-opt two members from the previous AthsCom, as is the standard procedure, but decided to add an additional two members.

The members co-opted from the previous Commission are speed skater Luiza Zlotkowska (POL) and free style skier Mikko Ronkainen (FIN), whilst Ukrainian sabre fencer Olga Kharlan and Portuguese triathlon champion Joao Pedro Lopes Da Silva were drawn from the candidates who missed being elected at the Monaco Forum.

The motivation behind the Executive Committee’s decision is to have a well-balanced team across sports and also geographically, that can contribute actively to the EOC’s activities.