Tsunekazu Takeda, President of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) and FEI Honorary Vice President, was elected as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) at the 124th IOC Session held in London prior to the Olympic Games.
 
Takeda, who served as an FEI Bureau member from 1992 to 2002, competed in the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Jumping events. Following his retirement from competition, he continued to pursue his passion for sport as a coach and administrator, leading the Japanese equestrian teams at the Los Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games. He served as a sports directors to the Organising Committee for the Nagano 1998 Olympic Winter Games and was elected as President of the Japanese Olympic Committee in 2001. He was chef de mission for the Japanese delegations at the Salt Lake City 2002 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
 
Tsunekazu Takeda is the 13th IOC member from Japan. Mr Takeda’s father, Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda, who competed in the Olympic equestrian events in Berlin 1936, was an IOC member from 1967 to 1981 and served on the organisation’s executive board for five years.
 
Japan, which in 1921 was one of the founding members of the FEI, is represented in the three equestrian disciplines at the London 2012 Olympic Games with a five-member team in Eventing and individual riders in Jumping and Dressage.
 
Other IOC members connected to equestrian sport include the Princess Royal (GBR), FEI President from 1986 to 1994, Gerardo Werthein (ARG), former FEI Bureau member, and FEI President HRH Princess Haya. HRH The Infanta Doña Pilar de Borbón (ESP), FEI President from 1994 to 2006, is an Honorary IOC member.