Directors

Jill Officer from Canada was elected to the World Curling Board in 2024.

In 2018, Officer was an elected to the Athlete Commission. Then in 2021 was elected to the role of Chair and originally sat on the Board in that role.

As an athlete, Officer represented Canada at seven World Women’s Championships, winning two gold medals and world titles, one silver medal and one bronze medal.

Officer represented Canada at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, winning Olympic Gold with a perfect 11-0 record.

Officer is the High Performance Director of CurlManitoba

Helena Lingham from Sweden was elected to the World Curling Board in September 2022 for a four-year term.

Lingham was elected to the Swedish Curling Association Board in 1995 and served on the Board for 16 years. She was a representative of the Swedish Curling Association to World Curling for 12 years.

She served on the Board Nomination Committee at the Swedish Olympic Committee, first as a member (2005-2009), then as Chair (2009-2015).

Lingham is a women’s world champion from 1995. She also won a silver medal at the women’s world championship in 2001 and two bronze medals in 1994 and 2003. She is also a women’s European champion from 2002.

Lingham works at Tele2, a Swedish internet service provider and telecommunication company as Senior Program, Project and Change Manager.

Sergio Mitsuo Vilela from Brazil was elected to the World Curling Board in September 2022 for a four-year term.

Since 2019, Vilela is a member of World Curling’s Structural Review Group.

Prior to his election to the World Curling Board, he was a Board Member and Director for curling at the Brazilian Ice Sports Federation.

Vilela has represented Brazil as a competitive curler at World Curling events since 2015.

Vilela works in a financial institution in Sao Paulo, Brazil, and he is a Doctor in International Tax Law and Master in Business Administration.

Robin Niven from Scotland was elected to the World Curling Board in September 2021 for a four year term. This initial term was extended by one year following the Board election restructure.

Niven is a Rural Entrepreneur with business interests ranging from farming, renewables, hospitality, retail, and sports all hosted on the family farm unit.

He is the past Director and Chair of Royal Caledonian Curling Club, and more recently Chair of British Curling, the Great Britain Olympic and Paralympic Curling Programme.

David Sik, from Czechia, was elected to the World Curling Board in September 2024 for a four-year term.

Sik was Czechia’s Representative to World Curling for 11 years, from 2013 until his election in 2024. And Czech Curling Association President from 2013 until 2024.

As an athlete, Sik represented Czechia in seven European Championships and two World Senior championships.

Tyler George from the United States of America was elected to the position of Athlete Commission Chair in 2024.

As an athlete, George represented United States in four World Men’s championships, winning the bronze medal in 2016.

George won an Olympic Gold medal at the PyeonChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games.

As the Chair of the Athlete Commission, George now holds the athlete vote on the World Curling Board, a process that was confirmed at the 2024 Annual General Assembly.

Andrew Ryan MBE, from England, joined the Board following his time as the Executive Director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) based in Lausanne, Switzerland, from 2006 until the end of 2024. 

His career prior to that role saw him working as a national coach in England, Norway and France in the sport of badminton, then at the Badminton World Federation from 1994 to 2005 where he was Chief Operating Officer. 

Ryan brings extensive experience of the Olympic movement to the Board, following almost 20 years as a member of the International Olympic Committee Programme Commission. He was involved in various Evaluation Commissions covering several editions of the Olympic and Youth Olympic Games, and was also a member of the Coordination Commission for the Commonwealth Games. 

Ryan was awarded the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Queen’s Honours List. 

Zhang Hong, from China, joined the World Curling Board as its second Independent Director, in August 2025.

As well as being an Olympic champion in Speed Skating, Zhang boasts an accomplished career contributing to the Olympic movement, including most recently chairing the Coordination Commission at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games between 2020 and 2024.

In addition, Zhang brings valuable experience to the World Curling Board as a member of several International Olympic Committee (IOC) commissions, including the Evaluation Commission for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, the Athletes’ Entourage Commission, the Athletes Commission and the Future Hosts Commission.

She is also a current member of the Olympic Council of Asia’s Advisory Committee, an Executive Board Member of the World Olympians Association (WOA) and a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).