Panetsidou, who stood for re-election, and Horuna, third in the men's 75 kilograms kumite category at Tokyo 2020, topped the vote held during the Karate World Championships here.

Olympic gold medallist Ryo Kiyuna of Japan, who won a record fourth men's kata title here yesterday, failed with his bid for re-election.

After the new members of the body were confirmed, the athletes voted to re-elect Benetello as head of the Commission.

As chairman, Benetello is a voting member of the WKF Executive Board so can directly feed the view of athletes into the sport's decision-making process.

The WKF has also appointed American three-time world champion Elisa Au of the United States to serve as a member of the athlete body.

Olympic champion Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran and Irina Zaretska of Azerbaijan, who retained her under-68 kilograms title yesterday, were among the other candidates.

Hungary's world silver medallist Yves Martial Tadissi and Ingrida Suchankova of Slovakia also ran for a place on the Commission.

The newly-formed Commission held its first meeting on the final day of the Championships, including discussions on the proposed new format for the event.

The World Championships are set to be split into separate individual and team events following a proposal approved by the WKF Congress earlier this week.

Antonio Diaz of Venezuela, Douglas Brose of Brazil, now a three-time world champion, and Nguyen Hoang Ngan of Vietnam are the other members.

"The Athletes' Commission provides an essential asset to the decision-making process of the WKF," said WKF President Antonio Espinós.

"Over the last years, under Davide Benetello’s leadership, the Athletes Commission has provided a crucial voice in the development of our sport considering that the wellbeing and progress of our karatekas are at the core of the WKF’s guiding principles.

"I would like to congratulate the new members. 

"I am convinced that as experienced and successful karatekas as they are, they will bring added great value to the Commission."