Deng Yaping Ready to Run for IOC Membership

World champion of table tennis Deng Yaping is ready to run for the membership of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), said an IOC top official in Beijing on Monday.

It's reported that Deng is eligible to run for the 10 spots allotted for the Summer sports at the 110th IOC session last December when IOC decided to recruit 15 sports members to its membership, with other five left for the Winter sports.The athletes members for the Summer sports will be elected during the pending Olympic Games slated for September in Sydney.

The Chinese IOC official disclosed that Deng, who was nominated to the IOC athletes commission by president Juan Antonio Samaranch in 1997, "has expressed her readiness to run for the IOC membership."

Deng, has claimed 18 world titles, including twice double champions in the Olympic Games during her 10-year sports career.

In 1999, she was voted as the Chinese Sports Personality of the Century, co-chaired by the Chinese Olympic Committee, the Sports Association of China and the Henry Fok Sports Foundation.

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