Saudi Arabia’s Princess Reema bint Bandar elected as IOC member

Saudi Arabia’s Ambassador to the United States Princess Reema bint Bandar al-Saud has been elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) after her inclusion was approved during the sporting body’s 136th session.

The IOC made the announcement on Friday in which Princess Reema joined four other new members to take the sporting body’s total members to 105.

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“Honored to be elected as a member of #IOC. Thank you to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, HRH Crown Prince, and @AbdulazizTF for their support. It has been an honor to serve my community through the universal language of sports,” Princess Reema tweeted after her election.

The four others who join Princess Reema are World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, ex-Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, Cuban Olympic Committee Board member Maria de la Caridad Colón Ruenes and Acting President of the Mongolian National Olympic Committee Battushig Batbold.

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Princess Reema bint Bandar bin Sultan, is the daughter of a former long-time ambassador to the United States. She became ambassador to Washington in February 2019, making her the Kingdom’s first female ambassador.

The Saudi Arabian princess has a long involvement and career in sports in the Kingdom. In 2016, Princess Reema was appointed as the Undersecretary of the Women’s Division in the General Sports Authority of Saudi Arabia. A year later, she became the President of the Saudi Federation for Community Sports, making her the first woman to lead a federation covering sporting activities for men and women in the Kingdom.

(With inputs from Reem Krimly)