Chinese speed skater Zhang nominated candidate for IOC Athletes' Commission

China's Olympic skating champion Zhang Hong has been nominated as one of six winter sports athletes for the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Athletes' Commission elections, the IOC announced on Monday.

Zhang Hong wins a gold medal in the women's 1000m speed-skating event in Sochi in 2014. [Photo/VCG]

Zhang, a Chinese speed-skating athlete, won the women's 1,000m speed-skating champion in Sochi 2014 and will compete for two available membership positions with the IOC Athletes' Commission during the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in February.

The five other candidates Zhang will be up against are Astrid Jacobsen of Norway (cross-country skiing), Ander Mirambell of Spain (skeleton), Kikkan Randall of the United States (cross-country skiing), Emma Terho of Finland (hockey) and Armin Zoeggeler of Italy (luge).

Athletes participating in the next Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang will be eligible to vote for their preferred candidates. After the approval by the IOC session, the two elected Olympians will become IOC members for an eight-year term.

If Zhang wins the election, she will be the third Chinese member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, following Yang Yang and Deng Yaping.

According to the rules of the IOC Athletes' Commission, only one member can represent a country or region at a time. Yang Yang, a Chinese short-track speed skater, will finish her term next year after she was elected as a member in 2010.

Former table tennis world champion Deng Yaping was the first Chinese member in the IOC Athletes' Commission, who was appointed by former IOC President Samaranch in 2000.