Heather elected to BOA Athletes’ Commission
Olympic silver medal winning modern pentathlete Heather Fell is one of six Olympians elected by their peers to serve on the British Olympic Association’s Athletes’ Commission.
Heather, who train at Pentathlon GB’s High Performance Centre at the University of Bath, won silver at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, will serve a four-year term on the commission.
The BOA announced today (Monday) that she was elected alongside rowing’s James Cracknell and Katherine Grainger, track and field athlete Christian Malcolm, diving’s Leon Taylor and hockey player Kate Walsh.
There were 21 candidates contesting the six places on the commission – candidates must have competed at an Olympic or Olympic Winter Games since Sydney 2000.
Heather, who is currently ranked 10th in the world and took silver at last year’s World Cup Final, said: “I’m really excited to be on the commission. It’s an honour to be elected, but it’s also a real responsibility and I hope I can represent people the way they would like me to.”
Kate Allenby, a bronze medal winning pentathlete at Sydney 2000, was elected to the commission two years ago and steps down.
The Commission, which was formed in July 2010, is an advisory group that represents the perspective and expertise of athletes and provides input to the many initiatives and programmes offered by the BOA.
The creation of the Commission followed a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee to ensure that athletes possess a meaningful voice in the decision-making processes of National Olympic Committees.
To establish a staggered membership and continuity, the BOA Athletes’ Commission in November 2012 voted for six of its 12 members to stay on the Commission for a further two years, to complete a four year total term to December 2014.
Ben Hawes (hockey) Goldie Sayers (athletics) Henry Nwume, (bobsleigh) Jackie Lockhart (curling) , Karen Pickering (swimming) and Sarah Gosling (sailing) were confirmed to stay on the commission.
In addition, Olympic rowing bronze medallist and double World Champion Sarah Winckless was re-elected as Chair of the British Olympic Association Athletes’ Commission in November.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission Member Adam Pengilly, a skeleton athlete, is automatically a member of the BOA Athletes’ Commission by virtue of his membership in the IOC.
