Michelle Yeoh, the acclaimed Oscar-winning actress, has recently been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. This distinguished honor was bestowed upon the 61-year-old former Malaysian junior squash champion, along with seven other new members, during the elections held on Tuesday in Mumbai, India.
March witnessed Yeoh's historic achievement as she became the inaugural Asian woman to secure the best actress accolade at the Oscars, thanks to her outstanding performance in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The elections subsequently led to an increase in the overall count of IOC members, now totaling 107.
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 rose to Hollywood prominence with her role in the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies, portraying a Chinese secret agent alongside Pierce Brosnan's 007. Prior to this, she had already gained stardom in Asia, particularly in Hong Kong.
Additionally, she played prominent roles in the martial arts masterpiece Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, the 2005 period drama Memoirs of a Geisha, and the 2018 romantic comedy Crazy Rich Asians.
Yeoh is wedded to Jean Todt, the former head of the FIA, the world governing body for motor sport, a recognition by the IOC dating back to 2013.
