Martin Fourcade is standing in the IOC Athletes' Commission election at Beijing 2022 ©Getty Images

French biathlon star Martin Fourcade fears the odds may be stacked against him in his pursuit of a place on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Athletes' Commission at Beijing 2022.

Fourcade, France's most successful Olympian, is one of the 16 athletes standing in the election that is taking place at the 2022 Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital.

The retired 13-time world champion told French newspaper L'Equipe he believes the fact he comes from a smaller sport will be a disadvantage to his campaign.

He will go up against athletes in sports such as Alpine skiing, which has nearly 100 more quota places at Beijing 2022 than biathlon.

"It's a structural election where the size of the delegations and the sports play a big role and in this case it plays against me," Fourcade said. 

"But this campaign allowed me to get to know the other sports better, it was a real asset in my winter sports culture.

"I am ambitious and I would be disappointed if this does not happen."

Fourcade, who was chosen as the French candidate for the IOC Athletes' Commission in 2019 ahead of pole vaulter Renaud Lavillenie, said the Olympics are "at a crossroads."

"We saw in Tokyo that the Olympics remain a fragile monument, like everything else," he told L'Equipe.

The Athletes' Village in Beijing is one of the places where Olympic competitors can cast their vote in the election ©Getty Images
The Athletes' Village in Beijing is one of the places where Olympic competitors can cast their vote in the election ©Getty Images

"I have the impression that we are at a crossroads. 

"Evolution is necessary to adapt to climate issues, to societal issues and economic transparency.

"I want to take part in this change so that the Games last."

The 16 candidates are standing for two available places on the Athletes' Commission, which carry the added incentive of full IOC membership.

The winners will replace outgoing Canadian ice hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser and Norwegian former biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who resigned from the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2016.

The candidates list features several Olympic champions including Dutch speed skater Ireen Wüst, Swedish Alpine skier Frida Hansdotter and Czech Republic's Eva Samková in snowboard cross.

Three bobsledders - Canada’s Seyi Smith, Seun Adigun of Nigeria and Adam Edelman of Israel - are also standing.

The other candidates are Swiss ice hockey player Florence Schelling, Slovenian ski jumper Jernej Damjan, skeleton racer Nathan Ikon Crumpton of American Samoa, the luge trio Shiva Keshavan of India, Raluca Strămăturaru of Romania and Te-An Lien of Chinese Taipei, and cross-country skiers Jaqueline Mourão of Brazil, Maria Ntanou of Greece and Mathilde Amivi Petitjean of Togo.