MILAN (AP) — The International Olympic Committee on Wednesday elected its first female member from Iran, making her its youngest representative yet.
Soraya Aghaei became the 107th member of the International Olympic Committee in a 95-2 vote, the third Iranian representative in history and the first since 2004.
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The IOC invites potential members to join an exclusive body that includes former Olympians, leaders of international sports bodies, members of the royal family, former political leaders, diplomats, industrialists and Oscar-winning actresses.
Aghaei joins the global Olympic body led by Kirsty Coventry, the first female president in its 132-year history. Currently, 45% of IOC members are women.
Ajayi’s eight-year term included voting to select the hosts of the 2036 Summer Olympics.
The 30-year-old member of Iran’s Olympic body’s Athletes’ Commission becomes the youngest member of the International Olympic Committee. At the same meeting, 31-year-old Afghan Samira Asgari was re-elected for a second term.
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Aghayi competed in badminton at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics, becoming Iran’s first female Olympian.
The last Iranian badminton player to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics was Kaveh Mehrabi, who is now the Director of the Athletes Department of the International Olympic Committee.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics