Nominations open for IPC Athletes’ Council election

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has opened the nomination process for the IPC Athletes’ Council, ahead of an election that will take place at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. 

The IPC Athletes’ Council is a highly engaged group consisting of current and retired Paralympians, and one representative from the IOC Athletes’ Commission. They are the collective voice of Paralympic athletes within the IPC and the Paralympic Movement.

The IPC Athletes’ Council provide feedback, advice, and reporting to the Governing Board on IPC matters from the athletes’ perspective, representing the interests of Paralympic athletes, and actively engaging with the athlete community.

Both the Chairperson and the First Vice Chairperson of the IPC Athletes’ Council are full voting members of the IPC Governing Board, the body that is responsible for setting the policies and for ensuring that the directions set by the membership at the General Assembly are implemented.

The term of office for the six summer athlete representatives on the IPC Athletes' Council, elected during the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, will end during the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

National Paralympic Committees (NPCs), International Federations (IFs), and International Organisations of Sport for the Disabled (IOSDs) have been asked to nominate one candidate each for the IPC Athletes’ Council election. Candidate applications are being accepted until Friday 24 May.

Only athletes competing in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, or those who have competed in at least one of the previous two editions of the summer Paralympic Games (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) are eligible for nomination. Only the six summer sport spots are up for election. 

As only one athlete per NPC can be on the IPC Athletes' Council at the same time, NPCs that currently have a winter representative elected on the IPC Athletes' Council are not eligible to put forward a candidate. Additionally, IFs and IOSDs must adhere to the same principle when appointing a nominee. The countries affected by this rule for the upcoming election are Australia, Canada, Greece, and Norway. The eligibility criteria for candidates are outlined in the “Athletes’ Council Terms of Reference”.

If elected, representatives are expected to dedicate the time required to fulfil Council responsibilities and attend relevant activities, such as conference calls, in-person meetings, and gatherings. It is also important to have a high level of interest in the Paralympic Movement.

As IPC Athletes’ Council meetings are conducted in English, effective communication skills both in written and spoken English are required, although it is possible for the responsible nominating organisation to provide an interpreter for the nominated candidate at all Athletes’ Council meetings or events that they may attend. More information of the IPC Athletes’ Council can be found here.