Mikee earns seat in IOC executive board

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines will have a stronger voice in the International Olympic Committee.

Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski won a seat in the IOC’s powerful executive board during elections held last Friday, and became the first Filipino and Asian woman to hold the post.

The 2002 Busan Asian Games equestrian gold medalist joined IOC president Thomas Bach, four vice presidents and nine other members in the board, which is specifically tasked to run the IOC and monitor Olympic charter compliance.

Cojuangco-Jaworski was elected along with Argentina’s Gerardo Werthein, also an equestrian, after three rounds of voting.

They succeeded Ukrainian Sergey Bubka and Singaporean Ser Miang Ng, whose terms ended.

Cojuangco-Jaworski, daughter of former Philippine Olympic Committee president Jose Cojuangco, was second in the first two rounds then grabbed first in the third after eliciting votes from 45 of the 93 IOC members present.

Since 2013, Cojuangco-Jaworski has been a member of important IOC committees like women and sports, Olympic channel and communications and the group coordinating the 2020 Tokyo and 2024 Paris Olympics.