The 39-year-old from Rotorua, who takes over the position from France’s former pole vault world record holder and 2012 Olympic champion Renaud Lavillenie, is serving her third term on the World Athletics Athletes’ Commission, having been elected as deputy chair in 2019.

Márton Gyulai, the executive director of sport for this year’s highly successful World Athletics Championships in Budapest, has been appointed director of competition and events for World Athletics.

Meanwhile Turkey’s Hasan Arat, Abby Hoffman of Canada and Indian-born Sunil Sabharwal have been re-appointed as members of the World Athletics Executive Board.

"Three of the nine members of the Executive Board are appointed rather than elected to ensure it has the necessary skills, expertise, as well as gender and geographical diversity, to undertake its responsibilities," World Athletics said.

Adams, who currently serves as chair of the Oceania Athletics Athletes’ Commission and was formerly chair of the Athletics NZ Athletes’ Commission, will also continue to be one of two athlete representatives on the World Athletics Council.

Both the chair and deputy chair of the World Athletics Athletes’ Commission are full voting members of the sport’s decision-making body, and Canadian 3000 metres steeplechase record-holder Matthew Hughes has been elected as deputy chair.

"The Commission plays a vital role in representing the voices and interests of athletes in our sport, and I am committed to continuing the work done by my predecessor," Adams said.

Commenting on the appointment of Gyulai, World Athletics chief executive Jon Ridgeon said: "Marton’s extensive experience across a wide range of areas in athletics makes him the ideal candidate for this important role as we dial up competition innovation over the next four years.

"Marton has run a federation, hosted one-day international meetings, European junior and master events, together with being a key part of a talented and innovative leadership team responsible for staging a thrilling World Championship event.

"Straight off the back of our most engaging World Athletics Championships in history, we are delighted to welcome Marton to his new role and believe he will be a real asset as we continue to increase our investment in competition, one-day events and development."

Gyulai has been a member of the European Athletics Council since 2015, a member of the European Athletics Executive Board since 2021 and he was elected to the Hungarian Olympic Committee in 2012.

He ran the Hungarian Federation for 10 years and has been meeting director for the annual international Gyulai Istvan Memorial - named after his late father, formerly general secretary of the international governing body - which is now a Continental Tour Gold meeting, for over a decade.

Commenting on his appointment, Gyulai said: "The Budapest 23 team and I are proud that the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 has set a new standard.

"The growth and expansion of the one-day leagues in all regions of the world, together with a major global athletics event taking place every year, will be key to attracting more people into athletics and more fans attending and watching our events."

Arat, Hoffman and Sabharwal were initially appointed to the Executive Board in 2019.

The Executive Board Appointments Panel’s recommendations were to maintain continuity by reappointing Arat, Hoffman and Sabharwal for the 2023 to 2027 period.

Arat, a former professional basketball player, is vice-president of the Turkish Olympic Committee and an Executive Committee member of the European Olympic Committees, for whom he was chair of the Coordination Commission for this year's European Games held at Kraków-Małopolska in Poland.

He is also vice-chair of Beymen, Turkey’s largest retail group.

Hoffman, who represented Canada in middle-distance events at four Olympic Games, has been a World Athletics Council member since 1995.

She is currently the assistant deputy Minister for the strategic policy branch for Health Canada.

Sabharwal, a three-time winner of the National Collegiate Athletic Association All-American fencing title, has been secretary general of the International Fair Play Committee since 2003.

He has also been a member of the International Olympic Committee commission on sustainability and legacy since 2000.

He was US Executive Board member of the International Monetary Fund between 2016 and 2018.

Along with the three re-appointed members, the Executive Board includes World Athletics President Sebastian Coe, senior vice-president Ximena Restrepo, vice-presidents Raul Chapado, Adille Sumariwalla and Jackson Tuwei, and Ridgeon (non-voting).