World Athletics have announced a list of 31 candidates from across the globe who have put themselves forward for election to the international federation’s governing board, the World Athletics Council.
The 31 candidates will be elected to 18 positions on the Council at the World Athletics Congress on 17 August 2023 – two days ahead of the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23.
The 18 positions are broken down into one President, four Vice Presidents – at least one of which will be female – and 13 Individual Council Members.
In addition to these 18 positions, there will be six Area Presidents who have already been or are in the progress of being elected by their Areas, and two members of the Athletes’ Commission (one female and one male) who will be selected by the Athletes’ Commission in October, making a total of 26 World Athletics Council Members.
This election cycle is a key milestone in World Athletics’ gender equity targets, which aims to have an equal balance of male and female Council Members by 2027.
In these 2023 elections, 40% of Council – or a minimum of 10 Council Members – will be represented by females.
In order to achieve these goals, gender leadership workshops and educational opportunities have been planned to create clear pathways for female athletes, administrators, officials and coaches to seek out and apply for opportunities at local, area and international federation level boards, commissions and committees.
The candidates for President and Vice-President will be addressing the Congress on 16 August during the candidates’ forum.
Any modifications to the list of candidates will be made directly on the Elections 2023 page of the World Athletics website.
