Lee had stood after six years as President of the Korean Swimming Federation (KSF) in March amid a major corruption scandal that had surfaced under his watch.

He won with 294 out of a possible 893 votes to finish comfortably ahead of Dankook University President, Chang Ho-sung.

Chang placed second with 213 votes.

Jeon Byung-kwan, a physical education professor at Kyung Hee University, finished third with 189. 

Former world table tennis champion Lee Elisa finished a disappointing fourth with 171, while ex-judoka Chang Jung-soo trailed in fifth with just 25 votes.

This marked the first election following a merger between the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) and the Korean Council of Sport for All (KOCOSA).

Kang Young-joong and Kim Jung-haeng, the respective heads of each body, had been co-Presidents since March but each opted not to stand.

Lee has spent the last 10 years as a KOC vice-president while also leading the KSF from 2010 until this year and serving as the South Korean Chef de Mission at London 2012.

He is also a former vice-president of the Korea Modern Pentathlon Federation and President of the Korean Canoe Federation.

He had announced his KSF resignation earlier this year after allegations of bribery, embezzlement and fraud in national team member selection and was initially not expected to stand for any other sporting positions.

The 61-year-old is now expected to serve until February 2021.

Achieving financial independence and creating jobs for retired athletes are his priorities, he told the Yonhap news agency after his election.

"They will be the most important tasks during my term," he said.

"I can handle other issues with the help of other KOC executives, but I will stake everything on accomplishing those two goals."