Announcement
Battushig Batbold Elected To IOC
BWF Council member Battushig Batbold is one of five new members elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at its 136th session.
The IOC session, the first ever to be held by video conference, was conducted on Friday 17 July.
Batbold, President of the Mongolian Badminton Association and Deputy Chair of BWF’s Marketing Committee, joins others in the badminton fraternity who are in the IOC: BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer; Deputy President Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul; Odette Assembe Engoulou (Vice-President of Badminton Confederation of Africa); Li Lingwei (former BWF Council member and Hall-Of-Famer); Dagmawit Girmay Berhane (former BWF Vice-President) and Sir Craig Reedie (BWF Honorary Life Vice-President).
In further good news for badminton, Li Lingwei was one of three IOC members re-elected for an additional eight years.
Batbold has made significant contributions to badminton in Mongolia.
Since becoming President of Mongolian Badminton Association in September 2015, Batbold was instrumental in Mongolia hosting one of its earliest badminton tournaments in the run-up to the Rio Olympics.
A programme to prepare Mongolian qualifiers for the Tokyo Olympics was begun. BWF’s Shuttle Time programme was implemented in several schools. Funding programmes and equipment donations have been initiated to encourage players to take up the sport. Coaches were sent to various provinces to make the sport more accessible in schools.
BWF President Poul-Erik Høyer warmly congratulated Batbold on the honour. In a message, he said:
“On behalf of the Council, I would like to send our warmest congratulations upon your election as IOC Member at the recent 136th IOC session. It is indeed wonderful that another member of our Badminton Family has been honoured by the IOC… I am sure that your passion for our sport will drive your commitment in making badminton a leading global sport. In addition, your appointment will also serve to inspire more young people to take up leadership positions beyond the badminton community.”
