Stinissen takes key role on IPC Athletes’ Council

"I am really honoured that our Athletes’ Council elected me for Vice Chair and that they trust me to fulfil this role the best I can."

Dutch sitting volleyball player Elvira Stinissen was elected as the new Vice Chair of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletes’ Council on Thursday (2 October), following a vote in Berlin, Germany.

Stinissen, an experienced athlete both on and off the field of play, began competing in 2002 and was part of the team that won bronze at the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games.

She then played for her country at London 2012 after which she founded ‘Sport-Ability’, an organisation dedicated to using sport to help people realise their potential.

Of her appointment, Stinissen said “I am really honoured that our Athletes’ Council elected me for Vice Chair and that they trust me to fulfil this role the best I can. We have some great challenges ahead of us in the next few years, so I am glad I hereby can support our Chairperson Todd [Nicholson] and with that represent all our athletes in the best way!”

A former member of the national NOC*NSF Athletes’ Commission, where she represented the interests of para-athletes, Stinissen, 35, was previously a Member on the IPC Athletes’ Council.

The vote took place at the IPC Membership Gathering, being held to mark 25 years since the IPC was founded on 22 September, 1989. It follows the sad passing in August of Council Member Jon McCullough.

The IPC Athletes’ Council is the collective voice of Paralympic athletes within the IPC and the greater Paralympic Movement.