The new representatives of the thousands of athletes within the PanAm Sports family have elected Aliann Pompey of Guyana to serve as the next President of the PanAm Sports Athlete Commission.
Pompey was elected at the first meeting with the new PanAm Sports Athlete Commission members, who were chosen by the more than 6,600 athletes who competed at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. The new Athlete Commission members met and held the election on December 6 at the PanAm Sports headquarters in Mexico City.
Only the three standing members of the Athlete Commission who were elected at Toronto 2015 — Carlos Santiago (PUR – Judo), Adriana Escobar (ESA – Rowing) and Aliann Pompey (GUY – Athletics) — were eligible to be elected as President of the Commission. Both Pompey and Santiago stood for the election, with the six members who were present participating in the election.
“Honestly I was a little bit surprised,” Pompey told PanAm Sports following her elections as the new President of the PanAm Sports Athlete Commission.
“I wanted to give it a shot because I think it’s a tremendous honour to lead the Commission and it was obviously something I would love to do. So I’m very, very happy with the outcome. It is a lot of work and I quickly realized that once we went through the timeline and what’s expected in the upcoming years, but I think we are a very collaborative group and with everyone working together we will do great things.”
Pompey, Escobar and Santiago are joined on the Athlete Commission by new Members Isabel Swan (BRA – Sailing), Melissa Humana-Paredes (CAN – Beach Volleyball), Paola Longoria (MEX – Racquetball), Tony Azevedo (USA – Water Polo) and Amber Joseph (BAR – Cycling).
The new Members will stand on the Athlete Commission until the 2027 Pan American Games, while Pompey will serve as President through the Santiago 2023 Pan Am Games.
“We are all thrilled to be on the PanAm Sports Athlete Commission because it’s a way for us to have meaningful impact in our sport and region outside of actual competition. I have and continue to learn so much, it’s truly an enriching experience. In a few short years we’ve experienced the commitment of the PanAm Sports Executive staff to the Commission in making sure the athletes’ voice has infiltrated pretty much all of their operations,” Pompey added.
PanAm Sports congratulates Aliann Pompey on her election as the President and looks forward to working with her more closely over the next four years to ensure the athlete voice is always considered in all decisions by PanAm Sports.
Aliann Pompey will sit in on her first Executive Board meeting on December 15 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. (PanAmSports.org)
