Oscar-winning actress Yeoh elected as IOC member
Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh says she “always dreamt of being an Olympian” after becoming a member of the International Olympic Committee.
The former Malaysian junior squash champion was one of eight new members elected on Tuesday in Mumbai, India.
In March, Yeoh, 61, became the first Asian woman to win the best actress award at the Oscars for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.
The elections resulted in the total number of IOC members rising to 107.
“I remember when someone asked me, how did you become an actress? I always said, ‘I never dreamt of being an actress, but as a child I always dreamt of being an Olympian’,” said Yeoh.
“Sports was very much part of my life growing up, I was very much involved with squash, athletics, swimming and diving.
“It has always been there and growing, but how do I find a way to join this [IOC] family? They are very tight-knit and also they have to be very sure that you share their passion, you share their commitment and ideology.
“So it took me a little while to ensure this is what I do believe in and I need to be part of this family.”
Yeoh becomes one of five new individual members, along with Israel’s first Olympic medallist, Yael Arad; Hungarian businessman and sports administrator Balazs Furjes; Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta, a former Olympic volleyball medallist and politician from Peru; and German sports entrepreneur Michael Mronz.
Sweden’s Petra Sorling, head of the International Table Tennis Federation, and South Korean Kim Jae-youl, president of the International Skating Union, joined through their roles as international federation heads.
Mehrez Boussayene, president of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, also joined as an ex-officio member.
When the list of the eight new proposed members was announced in September, IOC president Thomas Bach said they were selected because of their “experience and diverse expertise in different walks of life”.
“What they all have in common is their love of sport and their strong belief in the Olympic values and what the IOC stands for,” Bach added.
Yeoh found Hollywood fame in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, playing a Chinese secret agent opposite Pierce Brosnan’s 007. By then she was already a celebrity in Asia, having made her name in Hong Kong.
She also starred in martial arts movie Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the 2005 period drama Memoirs of a Geisha and the 2018 romantic comedy, Crazy Rich Asians.
Yeoh is married to Jean Todt, the former head of the FIA, motor sport’s world governing body, which was recognised by the IOC in 2013.