Malaysia’s Oscar-winning actress Michelle Yeoh joins the International Olympic Committee after vote in Mumbai
- Oscar winner is one of eight new proposed members to join the Olympic governing body at ceremony on Tuesday
- ‘As a child I never dreamed of being an actress, but of being an Olympian,’ Yeoh says
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Michelle Yeoh, the first Asian actress to win an Oscar, joined the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday after being voted in as a member at a ceremony in Mumbai.
She was one of eight new proposed members to join the Olympic body at its session in the Indian financial capital.
“I remember when someone asked me, how did you become an actress? I always said, ‘I never dreamed of being an actress, but as a child I always dreamed of being an Olympian’,” a beaming Yeoh told reporters after taking the oath as an IOC member.
“Sports was very much part of my life growing up, I was very much involved with squash, athletics, swimming and diving.
“It has always been there and growing, but how do I find a way to join this [IOC] family? They are very tight-knit and also they have to be very sure that you share their passion, you share their commitment and ideology.
“So it took me a little while to ensure this is what I do believe in and I need to be part of this family.”
A former Malaysian junior squash champion, Yeoh won the Oscar for best lead actress earlier this year for her role in the film, “Everything Everywhere All at Once”.
She got her Hollywood breakthrough when she was cast as the first ethnic Chinese Bond girl in 1997’s “Tomorrow Never Dies” opposite Pierce Brosnan.
Yeoh, also a producer and a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador, starred in martial arts movie “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon”, the 2005 period drama “Memoirs of a Geisha” and the 2018 romantic comedy, “Crazy Rich Asians”.
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Before the vote, Britain’s Princess Anne, the chair of the IOC’s member election committee, introduced Yeoh.
“Sadly, her other different skills took her away from her sporting life but a very fulfilled career and a lot of interest in sport throughout that.”
Yeoh said her favourite sport when she was growing up was squash.
“But then two knee surgeries, a bad back,” she added. “Now I do a lot of free shadowboxing because I still do martial arts in my movies. So I keep up with hiking and swimming, which is one of the more gentle sports to do.”
The 61-year-old is married to Jean Todt, the former head of FIA, the governing body for motorsport, which was recognised by the IOC in 2013.
She joins judoka Yael Arad, who won Israel’s first Olympic medal, Hungarian businessman and sports administrator Balasz Furjes, Cecilia Roxana Tait Villacorta, a former Olympic volleyball medallist and politician from Peru, and German sports entrepreneur Michael Mronz as the five new individual members.
Furjes and Mronz have also led efforts, unsuccessful so far, to get the Olympics to Hungary and back to Germany respectively.
Sweden’s Petra Soerling, head of the International Table Tennis Federation, and South Korean Kim Jae-youl, president of the International Skating Union, joined through their function as heads of an international federation.
Mehrez Boussayene, President of the Tunisian Olympic Committee, also joined.
“These candidates bring added value to the work of the IOC because of their experience and diverse expertise in different walks of life,” said Bach when the eight were proposed in September.
