KSOC line up Park In-bee for IOC Athletes’ Commission

Golf legend Park In-bee has been recommended as Korea’s candidate for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced Monday.

Park In-bee hits a shot during the BMW Ladies Championship at Asiad Country Club in Busan on Oct. 21, 2021. [KLPGA]

Golf legend Park In-bee has been recommended as Korea’s candidate for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) announced Monday.

Five other competitors — volleyball star Kim Yeon-koung, Badminton player Kim So-yeong, archer Oh Jin-hyek, sports shooter Jin Jong-oh, taekwondo practitioner Lee Dae-hoon — ran for the IOC Athletes’ Commission member position, but the KSOC judged Park as the most suitable candidate due to her achievements in the Olympics and fluent English.

Oh was dropped from the candidate list as he was unable to attend the interview due to national team training.

The KSOC selects its final candidate based on three main factors: the candidates’ stats in Olympic and international events, English language skills and social reputation. Any athlete involved in the most recent Olympics is eligible to run as a member.

The IOC Athletes’ Commission serves as a link between athletes and the IOC. During their eight-year term, members of the commission work to provide athletes with a platform to share their voices and experiences.

Park, 35, competed in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics and won a gold medal at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

She is also one of the most successful Korean golfers ever, having won 21 LPGA titles and being induced as a Hall of Famer. Being fluent in English, due to having spent most of her career in the United States, played a big role in surpassing other candidates.

“It is an honor to be here today with all these great athletes from across the country,” Park said in English on Monday at Seoul Olympic Parktel in southern Seoul after the interview. “I am ready to devote myself to my fellow athletes as an IOC Commission member.”

Park In-bee speaks to reporters at Seoul Olympic Parktel in Songpa District, southern Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

Her bid to run for a seat on the IOC Athletes’ Commission was not spontaneous, as she has been preparing to become a member since winning a gold at the 2016 Olympics.

The KSOC’s own Athletes Commission will hold meetings on Wednesday and Thursday and make the final call on whether to approve Park as the country’s final candidate. It will then notify the IOC of its final candidate in August, before athletes involved in the Paris Olympics elect the candidate next year.

The athletes will elect four members in total from all of the candidates put forward.

There have been two Korean members to hold the position, with Moon Dae-sung, a former Olympic gold medalist in taekwondo, serving his term from 2008 through 2016 and table tennis star Ryu Seung-min holding a spot since 2016.

Ryu’s term will end next year.

If Park wins the election next year, she will become the first-ever Korean female athlete, as well as the first Korean golfer, to hold the position. As Park will focus on becoming an IOC Athletes’ Commission member, her return to the LPGA seems unclear.

Since competing at the AIG Women’s Open in August last year, she has not participated on the tour, taking time out for the birth of her daughter in April. She is yet to announce when she plans to return.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]