Yang Yang nominated by IOC for WADA vice presidency

China's former Winter Olympic champion Yang Yang has been nominated by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the position of World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) vice president.

Yang, 43, became China's first Winter Olympic champion at Salt Lake City in 2002, when she took two gold medals and a silver in the short track speedskating event.

She was an IOC member from 2010 until 2018, when she was appointed IOC Marketing Commission member.

Former Chinese Olympic speed skating champion Yang Yang smiles during a press conference for the Laureus World Sports Awards Shanghai 2015 in Shanghai, China, 15 April 2015. [File photo: IC]

"The IOC Executive Board has nominated Ms Yang Yang, an Olympic champion from China, as the representative of the Olympic Movement for the vice presidency of WADA," the IOC said in a statement on Wednesday.

WADA released a statement congratulating Yang on her nomination.

"The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) congratulates double Olympic champion Yang Yang from China on her nomination by the representatives of the Sport Movement on WADA's Executive Committee (ExCo) and Foundation Board (Board) as their preferred candidate for the position of WADA vice president when the current incumbent, Norwegian politician Linda Helleland, steps down from the role at the end of 2019," it said.

Last week, WADA nominated Poland's Minister of Sport and Tourism Witold Banka, who is also an ExCo member and former 400m sprinter, as their preferred candidate for the position of WADA president when Craig Reedie steps down at the end of 2019.

The president and vice president will be formally elected by the Board, the organization's supreme decision making body, at the World Conference on Doping in Sport 2019, which takes place in Katowice, Poland, from November 5-7, and each will assume their role for a three-year term from 1 January 2020.