“Golf Empress” Park In-bee, 35, has been confirmed as the Korean candidate for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission.
According to the Korea Olympic Committee on Monday, Park was finalized as the country’s candidate for the IOC Athletes’ Commission after a vote by the Athletes’ Commission and approval by the president of the Korea Olympic Committee, Lee Ki-heung.
Park will become the 12th South Korean member of the IOC and the third athlete to run for the position.
Park, who has 21 wins on the U.S. Women’s Professional Golf (LPGA) Tour and ranks fourth on the all-time money list ($18.26 million), is a “living legend” who achieved the “career grand slam” of winning all four majors and is a member of the Hall of Fame.
She also completed the first-ever “golden slam” at Rio de Janeiro 2016, when women’s golf returned to the Olympic program after a 116-year absence.
Park, who previously challenged the process of selecting a new IOC Athletes’ Commissioner during next year’s Paris Olympics, was selected as the Korean candidate after competing with Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Kim Yeon-kyung (volleyball), Lee Dae-hoon (taekwondo) and Kim So-young (badminton).
The athletes underwent closed-door interviews with the evaluation committee of the Korean Olympic Committee on March 10 to evaluate their athletic careers, including Olympic results, and their ability to perform internationally, including speaking foreign languages, and Park In-bee, who received the highest score, was recommended as the single candidate by the KOC on March 14.
Following the decision of the Athletes’ Commission on the 16th and 17th and the approval of President Lee Ki-heung on the same day, the Korean candidate selection process was completed, and the KOC will notify the IOC of Park In-bee’s candidacy. Four new members will be elected in next year’s IOC Athletes’ Commission elections. 먹튀검증