ITU President elected to the IOC
Sixteen years after triathlon was voted into the Olympic movement, International Triathlon Union President Marisol Casado of Spain was one of six new members voted into the prestigious International Olympic committee during a meeting just prior to the opening of the Vancouver Winter Olympics.
Casado's election as a full member of the IOC is an honor for the sport of triathlon, solidifying triathlon’s position as a permanent sport in the summer games after a successful introduction at the 2000 Games in Sydney and continuing artistic success at Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008.
Casado was one of the founders of the Spanish Triathlon Federation and was involved in the creation of the ITU in 1989. She served as Secretary of the Spanish Triathlon Federation (1989-1994 and 1997-2008) while acting as the treasurer of the ITU (1992-1994 and 2000-2008). She also served as the President of the Women and Sport Commission on the Spanish Olympic Committee (1992-1994 and 2000-present).
Marisol joins Prince Faisal of Jordan, cycling’s Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) President Pat McQuaid of Ireland, and sports officials from China, Ethiopia and New Zealand on the 114-member IOC.
Marisol succeeded pioneering ITU President Les McDonald, whose force of personality and drive was responsible for navigating the byzantine world of IOC politics to get triathlon admitted to the Olympics, upon McDonald's retirement last year.
