Olympics: Kendall elected IOC member

Barbara Kendall has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee. Photo / NZ Herald

Olympic boardsailing gold medallist Barbara Kendall has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in South Africa today.

A veteran of five Olympic Games, Kendall won gold in 1992, silver in 1996 and bronze in 2000. She was fifth in Athens in 2004 and sixth in Beijing in 2008 before retiring from competition in 2010.

The 43-year-old was voted in on the final day of the IOC's four-day session in Durban and received 73 votes in her favour and only nine against in the secret ballot.

Kendall was the Oceania athletes' representative on the International Olympic Committee from 2005 to 2008.

She joined Spain's Jose Perurena Lopez the president of the international canoe federation and the head of Argentina's Olympic committee Gerardo Werthein as new members of the organisation.

- NZPA