Australia's Malcolm Page elected Chairman of ISAF Athletes' Commission

by ISAF on 16 Nov 2013 Australia's Malcolm Page has been named as the Chairman of the ISAF Athletes' Commission with Sarah Gosling (GBR) subsequently voted in as Vice-Chair.

The ISAF Athletes' Commission met on Tuesday 12 November at the ISAF Annual Conference in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman and have been a presence at many of the ISAF Committee meetings.

Page won Men's 470 gold at the Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Olympic Games and having retired from Olympic sailing he's enjoying the new challenge, 'I was involved in the Athletes' Commission for the previous Olympiad up to the London Olympics. I was very excited during that period to see the focus starting to shift and the walls being broken down and the Athletes more in the focal point of the officials in our sport.

'For me it was a great opportunity to get my hands dirty and get more involved and help our sport go forward, to make it grander and to make it ready for the future.'

Between them, the members of the Athletes' Commission hold eight Olympic medals, five of them gold and 11 World Championship titles.

Vast and extensive knowledge is present in the ISAF Athletes' Commission and Page was quick to praise the group, 'We've changed the structure a bit to align ourselves with the International Olympic Committee style of Athletes' Commission and it's brought an amazing spread.

'We've got four men, four women. We have four people from Europe and the other four from all around the world, Asia, North and South America and Oceania. It's an incredible step forward from our traditional point of view and not only that I think the quality of people that are there are A class, they're enthusiastic and keen to get involved.

'And there's five [Olympic] gold medals involved in those people as well which shows that those people who have made it to the top of our sport are willing to get involved in the day to day operations and decisions that will forge it for the future.'



The ISAF Athletes' Commission:

Women
Sarah Gosling (GBR) – Vice-Chair
Marcelien de Koning (NED)
Fernanda Oliveira (BRA)
Lijia Xu (CHN)

Men
Malcolm Page (AUS) - Chairman
Ben Barger (USA)
Pieter-Jan Postma (NED)
Yann Rocherieux (FRA)

The role of the ISAF Athletes' Commission is to act as the link between active Olympic sailors and the International Sailing Federation (ISAF).

The Athletes Commission will be able to elect members to sit on Events, Equipment and Race Officials Committees as well as receiving invites to Working Parties considering Olympic sailing matters, and selection of ISAF World Championships venues.

The members of the Athletes' Commission are expected to represent the interests of Olympic sailors to ISAF, and to encourage open communication and feedback from the ISAF Meetings website