The President of the St Lucia Olympic Committee (SLOC) is among the new members elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), following the recent 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen.

SLOC President, Richard Peterkin, is one of six new members from four different continents elected to the IOC. The other five members are: Crown Prince of Denmark, HRH Frederik; Habu Ahmed Gumel (Nigeria); Habib Adul Nabi Macki (Oman); Lydia Nsekera (Burundi); and Goran Petersson (Sweden).

At a recent press conference at Olympic House, Peterkin who is thrilled to be among the distinguished group said: “ This was the first time I attended an IOC session and I found the manner they make decisions extremely interesting.”

Speaking about his membership to the IOC Peterkin remarked: “This is certainly a great honour. It is something I never felt was possible when I first became president. I began to think it was slightly possible in 2000 when I was appointed Treasurer of PASO. As years went by I realized it does not come naturally. You need support, you need sponsors, you need help but at the end of the day it opens doors.”

Don’t expect any miracles or preferential treatment for St Lucia, now that Peterkin is rubbing shoulders with several influential individuals at the IOC. While being an IOC member opens doors through networking, it does give him any personal clout or translate into programs for St Lucia.

Peterkin was nominated as an individual member and not because he is the SLOC President. If for any reason he steps down from that position, he would remain an IOC Member. However, a criteria he must fulfil during his eight year term is continue to live in St Lucia. If he decides not to, he would relinquish his IOC Membership.

Commenting on the procedure when it came to electing the six new members, Peterkin said: “We were asked to leave the room then each of the new members were elected one by one. It was a free vote, secret ballot. It was up to the IOC members to reject or affirm the six that been nominated by the executive body.”

Peterkin made special mention of new IOC member Nsekera who is President of the Football Federation in Burundi - she is the only female among them.

“One of the things we learned is that the IOC wants to have more women involved in the IOC and they are looking for good nominations,” said Peterkin.

The first day of 121st IOC Session, dealt with which country would host the Summer Olympic Games in 2016 which turned out to be Rio de Janerio. Peterkin feels the decision is great for South America which will host the Olympic Games for the first time.

Two sports golf and rugby seven’s, were nominated by the board and accepted by the board as the sports to replace softball and baseball in 2016. The two had been recommended by the IOC Executive Board in August following an extensive evaluation by the Olympic Program Commission.