American ice hockey Olympic champion Angela Ruggiero was elected as the new Chair of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Athletes’ Commission, replacing Claudia Bokel.
IOC President Thomas Bach officially appointed Angela Ruggiero during joint meeting between the IOC Athletes’ Commission and the IOC Executive Board, following a vote by the members of the Commission.
- Angela Ruggiero is the current Vice-Chair of the Commission, which acts as the voice of the athletes within the IOC and the Olympic Movement, and is a former ice hockey player who has played more games for Team USA than any other man or woman.
- After four years at the helm of the Commission, Claudia Bokel will see her term of office come to an end at the conclusion of the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
- Prior to retirement from ice hockey in 2011, Ruggiero played in ten Women’s World Championships, earning four gold and six silver medals.
- Ruggiero, a former U.S. national defenseman, was a four-time Winter Olympic Games medalist, capturing one gold, two silvers and one bronze during her tenure with the red, white and blue. After previously serving as the vice chair of the Athletes’ Commission—which acts as the voice for Olympic athletes within the IOC—Ruggiero is now set to replace current chair Claudia Bokel following the conclusion of the Rio Games later this month.
