Hoyer becomes IOC member

A file picture of Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen. He was the sole nominee for membership at the 126th session of the IOC, which was held on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

KUALA LUMPUR: Badminton is set to be an Olympic sport for a long time.

On Friday, the sport received a huge boost when Badminton World Federation (BWF) president Poul-Erik Hoyer was elected as the newest member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 48-year-old Hoyer, who won the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games men’s singles gold medal for Denmark, received  76 votes out of 88 valid ballots, easily surpassing the required majority of 45 votes, according to a press statement release by BWF.

He was the sole nominee for membership at the 126th session of the IOC, which was held on the eve of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

Said Hoyer, who became the BWF president last May: “It is a great honour to have been elected to the IOC today and I would humbly like to thank my new colleagues in the IOC for the confidence they have shown in me.”

His election brings to three the number of BWF council members who are now in the IOC, following the election of Li Lingwei of China in 2012 and the re-election of Dagmawit Girmay Berhane of Ethiopia last year.