Claudia Bokel of Germany was on Sunday elected chair of the International Olympic Committee athletes' commission and, as a result, gets a place on the powerful IOC executive board. Bokel, 38, a former fencer, won the election among Olympic athletes ahead of the London Games beating out Russian swimmer Alexander Popov and British skeleton slider Adam Pengilly. Bokel will replace Namibia's Frankie Fredericks at the top of the athletes' commission. Fredericks is set to be elected into the IOC as a regular member at the IOC session starting on Monday. Bokel has been in the IOC since 2008 and was athletes' commission vice president since 2010. She is the second German in the decision-making executive board, joining IOC vice-president Thomas Bach.
