The 145th Session of the International Olympic Committee -IOC-, held on Tuesday in Milan, re-elected Juan Antonio Samaranch as Vice-President for a second four-year term and elected three new members to the Executive Board. The meeting took place just days before the opening of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, scheduled from 6 to 22 February 2026, and marks a significant renewal within the organisation’s governing bodies.
Alongside the re-election of Samaranch, the Session elected Ingmar De Vos, Jae Youl Kim and Neven Ilic to the IOC Executive Board. De Vos succeeds Nenad Lalović as the representative of the Summer Olympic International Federations; Kim replaces Ivo Ferriani; and Ilic fills the seat vacated following the election of the IOC President in March 2025. These changes will come into effect at the conclusion of Milano Cortina 2026.
New IOC member and gender balance within the organisation
The Session also elected Soraya Aghaei Haji Agha as a new IOC Member. An Iranian Olympian and the first female badminton player to represent Iran at the Olympic Games, she competed at Tokyo 2020. Aghaei is a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission and also serves on the Athletes’ Commission of the National Olympic Committee of Iran, in addition to having coached athletes at national level.
Following her election, IOC membership during the period of the Games will stand at 107 Members, including 48 women, representing 44.9 per cent of the total. The membership also includes 43 Olympians — 25 women and 18 men — reinforcing direct athlete representation within the organisation’s institutional structure.
Re-elections and membership decisions
The Session also re-elected 11 IOC Members whose eight-year terms will conclude in 2026, following their election or re-election in 2018. They were renewed for an additional eight-year term, taking into account the age limits set out in the Olympic Charter — 80 years for Members elected before December 1999 and 70 years for those elected after that date.
In addition, the Session approved a four-year extension of the mandates of Anant Singh and Karl Stoss, both elected in 2016 and set to reach the age limit in 2026. In Singh’s case, the extension recognises his contributions across several IOC commissions; in Stoss’s case, it reflects his roles as Chair of the Olympic Programme Commission and of the Future Host Commission for the Olympic Winter Games. The Session also approved a change of status for Michael Mronz to ensure Germany’s representation within the IOC following the resignation of Honorary President Thomas Bach as an IOC Member.
Executive Board and Ethics Commission renewal
Following his election to the Executive Board, Ingmar De Vos stated: “Today’s election is a great honour. I am deeply grateful to my fellow IOC Members for the trust they have placed in me.” The President of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations -ASOIF- underlined his commitment to “the future success of the Olympic Games, the IOC and the Olympic Family”, with particular attention to the role of the International Federations within the Olympic Movement.
For his part, Jae Youl Kim, President of the International Skating Union -ISU-, said: “I am deeply honoured to receive the mandate to serve on the IOC Executive Board.” He highlighted his intention to contribute to an Olympic Movement that is “more inclusive, more innovative and more sustainable, while remaining firmly anchored in our values.” The Session also elected Patricia O’Brien as Chair of the IOC Ethics Commission for a four-year term and appointed new and returning members to the body, in line with the recommendations of the Executive Board.
