TOKYO, April 6 (Xinhua) – Sarah Lewis, Secretary General of the International Ski Federation (FIS) for 20 years until October last year, announced her candidacy for president of FIS, the world’s largest winter sports governing body.
The official candidate nomination has been submitted to the FIS by the Royal Belgian Ski Federation, of which she is a member, it was announced in a statement.
The candidacy could ultimately make her the fifth and first female president in FIS’s 97-year history, founded in 1924 and whose disciplines now represent over half of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games program.
Lewis, 56, who represented Britain at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada, had been a favorite to become president after serving as FIS secretary general for 20 years before being abruptly removed from office without a convincing explanation from the FIS last October.
“I have devoted myself to our sport as an Olympian, FIS and our society and to the Olympic movement as a participant, manager and leader.
“I am now making this journey for a reason – to work together to build a FIS that is fully representative of the global ski and snow sports community and fully equipped to take us far into the second centenary of FIS, with a crystal clear plan, “Transparency and accountability. Together, I believe we can achieve much more.”
The FIS, whose current president Gian-Franco Kasper is stepping down after 23 years, will see its first controversial and virtual election in its history on June 4.
Lewis will face competitions from three other candidates, the president of the Swiss Ski Association Urs Lehmann, the president of the Swedish Olympic Committee Mats Arjes and the Swedish Johan Eliasch, chairman and CEO of the sportswear company Head. Eliasch has been nominated for the chairmanship of GB Snowsport, the UK’s ski governing body.
Lewis, who has lived in Switzerland for over 20 years, said: “We are entering a new era for FIS and global sport – an era that requires FIS to address its role in a changing, more inclusive and demanding society and a era that FIS must embrace for growth, a healthy future for our sport, with our athletes at the center.
“We have been given a unique opportunity – to elect a president from the 21st century, whose full focus is to work hand in hand with national associations and stakeholders, leading the FIS to a strategic transformation from a stable governing body to a global one. movement for world skiing and snowboarding. ”
Source: sn.dk