Two Caribbean women, Cydonie Mothersill (CAY) and Donna Raynor (BER), have achieved significant promotions within World Athletics Council.
Cydonie Mothersill, the champion of the 200m race at the Delhi 2010 Commonwealth Games, and Raynor, the former President of Bermuda Athletics Association, secured positions as elected World Athletics Council Members during the 54th World Athletics Congress held in Budapest on Thursday (17). Mothersill is also the Edmonton 2001 World Athletics Championships 200m silver medallist.
NACAC President Mike Sands of the Bahamas is also a member of the World Athletics Council. ALSO READ: Sands To Take Over as NACAC President
Meanwhile, Sebastian Coe has resumed his role as the President of World Athletics. Additionally, Ximena Restrepo has been re-elected as a Vice President, and she will be joined by newly elected Vice Presidents Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla, and Jackson Tuwei.
Out of a total of 192 voting members of Congress, 189 voted in favor of Coe, and three abstained from voting. According to the World Athletics Constitution, this term will mark Coe’s final tenure as President.
As a part of the comprehensive reforms enacted by the World Athletics Congress at the close of 2016, the organization incorporated minimum gender representation goals into its constitution to ensure parity at all levels within the realm of the sport’s governance.
These reforms outlined a stipulation for the election of 13 members of each gender to the World Athletics Council during the 2027 Congress. Remarkably, this objective has been accomplished four years ahead of the planned reform timeline.
The sole remaining requirement to be met at the 2027 Congress is the election of two Vice Presidents of each gender.
“I’m grateful for the support of my colleagues and delighted to see that more of the commitments we made during the governance reform process in 2016 have come to fruition with the election of World Athletics’ first gender-equal Council four years ahead of schedule,” said Coe.
“But the job is not done yet, and we need to keep pushing for gender parity throughout our representative bodies. The strength of our sport lies in its diversity, and that should be mirrored in our governance at all levels.”
The recently chosen members of the World Athletics Council are:
- Yuko Arimori (JPN)
- Anna Riccardi (ITA)
- Annette Purvis (NZL)
- Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR)
- Nan Wang (CHN)
- Abby Hoffman (CAN)
- Nataliia Dobrynska (UKR)
- Sylvia Barlag (NED)
- Beatrice Ayikoru (UGA)
- Willie Banks (USA)
- Antti Pihlakoski (FIN)
- Cydonie Mothersill (CAY)
- Donna Raynor (BER)
Within the 26-member World Athletics Council, the 13 newly elected members will be accompanied by six Area Presidents and two representatives of the Athletes’ Commission—one female and one male, including the Chair.
