Sydney: Veteran pole vaulter Sergei Bubka topped a poll of 44 candidates on Thursday to head a list of eight elected to the International Olympic Committee's athletes' commission.
The 36-year-old Ukrainian world record holder, who failed on Wednesday to qualify for the men's Olympic final, won 1,506 votes in a ballot of fellow competitors at the Sydney Games.
He will serve on the commission for eight years along with Russian swimming star Alexander Popov, Australian swimmer Susie O'Neill and US volleyball player Robert Ctvrtlik.
Four athletes - Olympic javelin champion Jan Zelezny of the Czech Republic, Canadian former sprinter Charmaine Crooks, German rower Roland Baar and Spanish water polo player Manuel Estiarte - were elected to serve on the commission for four years.
IOC officials said 5,216 votes were cast out of a total of 11,035 eligible voters.
(c) Reuters Limited.