Kiwi windsurfing legend Barbara KENDALL is one of 31 candidates for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission elections, which will be held during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.
Barbara KENDALL, a triple Olympic medallist and an inductee to the ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame, has been a member of the IOC since 2005. She is one of four Athletes' Commission members whose term expires next year, but has been nominated for re-election.
To be eligible, the candidates must have taken part in the Athens 2004 Games or be taking part in the Beijing 2008 Games. In total there are 31 candidates for the four member post which will become vacant.
All the athletes participating in the Beijing Games in 2008 will be able to vote. They will have to vote for four candidates from four different sports, in order to ensure varied representation of the sports on the Olympic programme. Voting offices will be set up in each of the three Olympic Villages in Beijing, Qingdao and Hong Kong, as well as in the four cities hosting the football competitions. After acceptance by the IOC Session, the four elected athletes will become IOC members for the same duration as their term of office on the Commission, ie eight years (KENDALL only served a three-year term as she joined the Commission as a replacement for Australia's Susie O'NEIL).
Click here to view the full list of candidates.
ISAF also has its own Athletes' Commission, which acts as a link between active Olympic sailors and the International Sailing Federation. Go to www.sailing.org/athletes to find out more.