The bob skeleton world silver medallist was elected as a member of the Athletes’ Commission d
during the Vancouver 2010 Games and joins fellow Britons the Princess Royal, Sir Craig Reedie and Sir Philip Craven on the IOC.

Pengilly was elected with 615 votes by his peers, along with the United States ice hockey gold medallist Angela Ruggiero, and will now serve in the IOC for a period of eight years.

Pengilly and Ruggiero replaced Pernilla Wiberg and Manuela Di Centa, who were elected to the Athletes’ Commission at the Games in Salt Lake City in 2002, and came to the end of their term of office in Vancouver.

Pengilly was elected on a mandate that stated he would ensure that winter and summer sports are treated equally, fairer drug testing around the world would take place and athletes’ families would have access to watch them compete in the Olympics.

The 32-year-old from Bath said his election mandate would be one of the major driving forces behind his thinking while serving as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission.

Pengilly said: "To be elected by your peers is obviously a great honour and a great privilege.

"But it also brings a lot of responsibility so I hope I can live up to what they require and what they would ask and I will certainly do my best to achieve the mandate that I put out in terms of getting elected."

Pengilly also claimed that the well-being of Olympic athletes must be at the forefront of all the important decisions made by the IOC.

He said: "Obviously working with the Athletes’ Commission as a team, its going to be really important that we work together and try and make sure that the athletes are at the heart of all the key decisions so that’s going to be the key thing.

"In terms of how that plays out and actually works, I’ve yet to find out but I’m very excited to be involved and move things forward from an athlete perspective."

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February 2010: Pengilly and Ruggiero elected as members of IOC