Peterkin elected to International Olympic Committee

President of the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), Jacques Rogge (fourth from the left)
along with the six new members elected
to the IOC.
President of the St Lucia Olympic Committee,
Richard Peterkin, is on the extreme right

Written By: David pascal

The President of the St Lucia Olympic Committee
(SLOC) is among the new members elected
to the International Olympic Committee (IOC),
following the recent 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen.

SLOC President, Richard Peterkin, is one of
six new members from four different continents
elected to the IOC.

The other five members are: Crown Prince
of Denmark, HRH Frederik; Habu Ahmed Gumel (Nigeria);
Habib Adul Nabi Macki (Oman);
Lydia Nsekera (Burundi);
and Goran Petersson (Sweden).

At a recent press conference at Olympic House,
Peterkin who is thrilled to be among
the distinguished group said: " This was
the first time I attended an IOC session
and I found the manner
they make decisions extremely interesting."

Speaking about his membership to the IOC
Peterkin remarked: "This is certainly
a great honour.
It is something I never felt was possible
when I first became president.
I began to think it was slightly possible
in 2000 when I was appointed Treasurer of PASO.
As years went by I realized it does
not come naturally. You need support,
you need sponsors, you need help but
at the end of the day it opens doors."

Don't expect any miracles or preferential
treatment for St Lucia, now that Peterkin
is rubbing shoulders with several
influential individuals at the IOC.
While being an IOC member opens doors
through networking, it does give him
any personal clout or
translate into programs for St Lucia.

Peterkin was nominated as an individual
member and not because he is
the SLOC President. If for any reason
he steps down from that position,
he would remain an IOC Member.
However, a criteria he must fulfil during
his eight year term is continue
to live in St Lucia.
If he decides not to,
he would relinquish his IOC Membership.

Commenting on the procedure when it
came to electing the six new members,
Peterkin said: "We were asked to leave
the room then each of the new members
were elected one by one.
It was a free vote, secret ballot.
It was up to the IOC members to reject
or affirm the six that been
nominated by the executive body."

Peterkin made special mention of new
IOC member Nsekera who is President
of the Football Federation
in Burundi - she is the only female among them.

"One of the things we learned is that
the IOC wants to have more women
involved in the IOC and they are
looking for good nominations," said Peterkin.

The first day of 121st IOC Session,
dealt with which country would host
the Summer Olympic Games in 2016
which turned out to be Rio de Janeiro.
Peterkin feels the decision is great
for South America which will host
the Olympic Games for the first time.

Two sports golf and rugby seven's,
were nominated by the board and
accepted by the board as the sports
to replace softball and baseball in 2016.
The two had been recommended
by the IOC Executive Board in August
following an extensive evaluation
by the Olympic Program Commission.

Link here

--
J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda