London 23 July – the official opening of the Olympic Villages for the London 2012 Games on 16 July also marked the first day of elections for the IOC Athletes’ Commission, with all the competitors invited to vote for those they would like to have as representatives within the Olympic Movement for the next eight years.

For this, each athlete will have to select four candidates, from four different sports so as to ensure a wide representation of sports on the Olympic programme, out of a list of 21 candidates 14 of which are European, and vote within 8 August.

The results will be announced at the Olympic Village on 9 August at 2 pm, but the voted athletes will still need to be approved by the IOC Session on 12 August, and only then will they become IOC members for the prescribed eight-year term of office.

The Commission, which meets one to two times per year, serves as a consultative body and is the link between active athletes and the IOC. It is composed of 12 athletes (8 summer and 4 winter)elected athletes and up to seven athletes appointed by the IOC President, to ensure a balance between regions, genders and sports. In addition, a representative of the World Olympians Association (WOA) and a representative of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) are ex-officio members. The chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission is an ex-officio member of the IOC Executive Board.