OLYMPIC gold medallist Alistair Brownlee will advocate for athletes as one of four new appointees to the International Olympic Committee's Athletes' Commission.

The British triathlete, who is from Horsforth, competed for Team GB at three Olympic Games, two alongside brother Jonny, becoming champion at both London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The Bramhope-based athlete has also served as a member of the Athletes' Commission of the European Olympic Committees and on the Athlete Advisory Committee of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.

He will join American sprinter Allyson Felix, Canadian dual-sport athletics and bobsleigh athlete Seyi Smith and Afghanistan-born cyclist Masomah Ali Zada, the first refugee athlete on any IOC commission, on a 23-member panel, with members serving up to eight years.

IOC president Thomas Bach said: "Athletes are at the very heart of the Olympic movement and it is therefore essential that their voices are heard within the IOC.

"Those voices must be as diverse as possible. The appointment of these four new members of the Athletes' Commission complements the outstanding skills and experience of the commission and ensures we have great representation across different sports and regions of the world."