Congratulations! Pau Gasol has been appointed to the International Olympic Committee Executive Board with a term lasting until the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

On February 21st Beijing time, ESPN reported that two-time NBA champion Pau Gasol was elected by Olympic athletes today to serve on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board, with a tenure lasting until the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games.

Gasol, who won NBA titles with the Lakers in Los Angeles, has been a key member of the IOC overseeing Olympic affairs since being elected by athletes at the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympics.

His number 16 jersey has been retired and hangs in the Lakers’ home arena, which will host gymnastics and boxing during the 2028 Olympics. Gasol was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2023.

Gasol’s induction into the influential 15-member IOC Executive Board took place during a meeting of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.

“It is a significant moment to take on the responsibility of leading our commission,” he said in a statement released by the IOC.

Gasol has competed in five Olympic Games, helping Spain’s men’s basketball team win silver medals at the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics, and a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Games.

He is the first male athlete in 14 years to serve as a member of the IOC Executive Board.Previous holders of this position include Finnish ice hockey player Emma Terho, American ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero, German fencer Claudia Bokel, and Coventry—who joined the IOC as an athlete in 2013 while still representing Zimbabwe in swimming competitions.

Coventry’s tenure as an athlete representative on the Executive Board from 2018 to 2021 paved the way for her historic election last year as the IOC’s first female president.