MANILA – Mikee Cojuangco-Jaworski will become part of the powerful International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board after she was voted into the body during the virtual IOC session early Saturday.
Jaworski, a gold medalist in the 2002 Asian Games in equestrian, is set to become the first Asian woman to get a seat on the board, which “assumes general overall responsibility for the administration of the IOC and monitor compliance with the Olympic Charter.”
The daughter of former Philippine Olympic Committee president Peping Cojuangco will join Argentine equestrian Gerardo Werthein into the IOC executive board, replacing Sergey Bubka, who will leave his post after an eight-year tenure, and Ser Miang Ng, who has been elected vice president.
With Cojuangco-Jaworski, wife of former Philippine Basketball Association champion player Dudut Jaworski, coming in, the number of female representatives in the IOC executive board increased to one-third of the total number of members.
“The session has demonstrated the IOC’s commitment to promoting gender equality within its leadership,” the IOC said in a statement.
Before becoming part of the IOC executive board, Cojuangco-Jaworski, who has been the Philippine representative to the IOC since 2013, is also part of the coordination commissions for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled next year and the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Cojuangco-Jaworski, a former actress, served as director and secretary general of the Philippine Equestrian Federation during the early 2000s.
She was also named Philippine Sportswriters Association’s Athlete of the Year in 2002 due to her Asian Games victory.