Usha and Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt had been amongst eight sportspersons of excellent advantage (SOMs) who had been picked by the newly-elected Athletes Commission to vote in the course of the December 10 elections of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

The different six SOMs are M M Somaya (hockey), Rohit Rajpal (tennis), Akhil Kumar (boxing), Suma Shirur (capturing), Aparna Popat (badminton) and Dola Banerjee (archery).

With the nice and cozy assist of my Fellow Athletes and National Federations I’m humbled and honoured to just accept and file for the Nomination of the President Of IOA!

— P.T. USHA (@PTUshaOfficial) November 26, 2022

Under the brand new structure of the IOA, the eight SOMs, who can be part of the General Assembly with voting rights, have 4 male and 4 feminine members. The IOA has already permitted the structure beneath necessary directive of the Supreme Court.

More than 70 former athletes had utilized for the roles of eight SOMs and the Athletes Commission of the IOA had shaped a five-member sub-committee to shortlist the candidates.

The 10-member Athletes Commission was elected on November 14. A day later, boxing legend M C Mary Kom was appointed its president whereas desk tennis ace Achanta Sharath Kamal was made her deputy. The different members of the Athletes Commission are PV Sindhu, Shiva Keshavan, Mirabai Chanu, Gagan Narang, Rani Rampal, Bhavani Devi, Bajrang Lal and OP Karhana.

(With PTI inputs)