olympians allyson felix alistair brownlee oluseyi smith and masomah ali zada have joined the athletes commission of the international olympic committee ioc a group that serves as a link between the athletes and the ioc the body said on wednesdayall four were appointed by ioc president thomas bach and can serve a term of up to eight years on the commission a body that lends a voice to athletes and takes into account their viewpoints on olympic decisionsbrownlee won olympic gold twice in the triathlon for britain and already serves as a member of the athletes commission of the european olympic committees he is also on the athlete advisory committee of the birmingham 2022 commonwealth gamesits an honour to be appointed to the ioc athletes commission i am a product of the olympic movement watching the first ever olympic triathlon in sydney inspired me to dream and work hard towards those dreams brownlee saidit will be a privilege to represent the athletes of the olympic movement and play a small part in helping to realise the dreams of more young peopleamerican sprinter felix one of the most decorated female athletes in olympic track and field history won 11 medals at the olympics including seven goldsshe retired after the world athletics championships which were held in eugene oregon this month where she helped the united states win the 4x400m goldali zada who is from afghanistan is the first refugee athlete on the commissiona cyclist who was with the ioc refugee olympic team at the tokyo games she had endured harassment as a woman cycling in afghanistan she was granted asylum in france in 2017smith has represented canada at the summer and winter games running the 4x100m relay in 2012 while he also competed in the bobsleigh at pyeongchang 2018the commission will now consist of 14 women and nine men