|
Yoon Kang-ro | By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Yoon Kang-ro, a veteran sports diplomat better known as Rocky Yoon, will receive a merit award from the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) at the sporting body's general assembly next Monday in Beijing. Yoon is the first South Korean ever to receive the honor.
The ANOC merit award has been given to sports leaders, heads of states, policymakers and other contributors to the global Olympic movement.
Notable recipients of the award include International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge, former IOC President Antonio Samaranch, King Juan Carlos of Spain and former French President Jacques Chirac.
Since joining the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) in 1982, one year after Seoul was selected as the host city of the 1988 Summer Games, Yoon helped the KOC and IOC in a wide variety of roles and was the acting head of the South Korean delegation at 10 Olympic and 10 Asian Games.
Yoon also served as a member of the IOC evaluation commission for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, the Asian Games chief coordinator for the Olympic Council of Asia, the KOC deputy secretary general, and the secretary general of the 2010 and 2014 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games bid committee.
The ANOC awarding ceremony will be attended by the presidents and secretary generals of 205 National Olympic Committees and other high-profile officials including Rogge, ANOC President Mario Vazquez Rana and possibly Chinese President Hu Jintao.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr |
