Nita Ambani, Founder and Chairperson, of Reliance Foundation was on Thursday elected as an individual member of International Olympic Committee. With this she becomes the first Indian woman to join the prestigious body which governs Olympic sports in the world. Sportspersons like Sachin Tendulkar, Saina Nehwal, Sania Mirza, Virender Sehwag wished her on Twitter for this achievement. After being nominated in June by the IOC Executive Board, Nita was elected by IOC members at the 129th Session of the world body, just a day before the opening ceremony of the 31st Olympics Games. 52-year-old Nita is the only current active individual member of the IOC from India and she will serve at the high-profile world body until she attains the age of 70.

She is involved in promoting multiple sports in India with focus on developing talent through a number of large-scale grassroots initiatives. The grassroots programmes that she has initiated have reached out to over 3 million children in multiple sports. She is the architect of Indian Super League which has helped in raising the profile of Indian football. “I am truly humbled and overwhelmed to be elected by the IOC. This is a recognition of the growing importance of India in the world stage and a recognition for Indian women,” Nita said in a release. Let’s see what these sportpersons, celebrities posted on Twitter:

And the best wishes continued to pour in from the ‘aam aadmi’ too! 

“I have always believed in the power of sport to shape our youth. I believe that sports brings together communities, cultures, and generations has the power to unify and unite people. I look forward to spreading the spirit of Olympics and sports across our nation,” she added.