Oscar-winner Michelle Yeoh voted onto International Olympic Committee

MUMBAI (AFP): Malaysia’s Oscar-winning actor Michelle Yeoh was voted onto the International Olympic Committee on Tuesday (Oct 17).

The first Asian woman to win an Academy Award – when she scooped best actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” earlier this year – was elected by 67 votes to nine, with one abstention.

She was one of eight new members voted in on the final day of the 141st IOC session in Mumbai, India.

When the result was announced, Yeoh stood up and placed her hand on her heart.

She and the other newly elected members then took the Olympic oath.

The 61-year-old, who has been accompanied in Mumbai by her husband Jean Todt, the former president of motorsport governing body FIA, then received an IOC member medal from Bach.

Before the vote, Britain’s Princess Anne, the chair of the IOC’s member election committee, introduced Yeoh as “a Malaysia junior squash champion”.

“Sadly, her other different skills took her away from her sporting life but a very fulfilled career and a lot of interest in sport throughout that.”

Yeoh’s Hollywood breakthrough came when she was cast in 1997 Bond film “Tomorrow Never Dies” opposite Pierce Brosnan, and she made her reputation in martial arts movies including “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”.

She was voted in on Tuesday alongside Israel’s first Olympic medallist Yael Arad; Hungarian businessman and sports administrator Balazs Furjes; Cecilia Tait, a former Olympic medallist and politician from Peru; and German sports entrepreneur Michael Mronz.

All five had previously been proposed as individual members by the IOC’s executive board in September.

Sweden’s Petra Soerling, head of the International Table Tennis Federation, and South Korean Kim Jae-youl, president of the International Skating Union, were also elected in regard to their roles with international sports federations.

Mehrez Boussayene, president of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, was also elected as an ex-officio member.

“These candidates bring added value to the work of the IOC because of their experience and diverse expertise in different walks of life,” said Bach when the eight were proposed in September.