BEIJING: Olympic champion Liu Shiwen of China has announced that she will run to join the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)’s Athletes Commission.
“I’m honored to become one of the candidates. My declaration is ‘Listen to your voice, enjoy table tennis together.’ I hope that athletes’ voices will be listened to, communication between athletes across different associations and ages will be enhanced, and more women will be encouraged to take part in table tennis,” Liu wrote on Chinese social network Weibo on Monday.
Including Liu, 23 candidates were unveiled by the ITTF for the Athletes Commission on October 26. According to regulations, voting will take place from November 7 to 13. The winners will be announced on November 14, with a total of 10 places open for a four-year term on the commission.
All members of the Athletes Commission will be invited to the forthcoming ITTF Summit in December in Amman, Jordan. At the summit, the commission, along with IOC Athletes Commission member Ryu Seung-min of South Korea, will elect two chairs to sit on the ITTF Executive Committee. According to the ITTF, for the first time, the two chairs will be awarded to one man and one woman to ensure gender parity.
