Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry has been confirmed as chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes’ Commission.
Bermuda Winter Olympian Patrick Singleton OLY is also a member of the committee.
She replaces United States' ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero and becomes the body's third successive female leader.
Slovakian shooter Danka Bartekova has been chosen as vice-chair to replace France's Tony Estanguet.
Both elections were uncontested at a joint meeting of the IOC Executive Board and Athletes' Commission.
Coventry, 34, is a seven-time Olympic medalist who won the 200 meters backstroke crowns in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.
She is also a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Foundation Board and the athlete representative on the Board of the new Independent Testing Authority, as well as a vice-president of the International Surfing Association.
She follows Ruggiero and German fencer Claudia Bokel as the third successive female chair and also becomes the first from Africa after Namibia's Frankie Fredericks.
