The British Olympic Association (BOA) chose Brownlee as their candidate ahead of Rio 2016 cycling gold medallist Callum Skinner and London 2012 bronze medal-winning gymnast Kristian Thomas.

Four athletes from four different sports will be elected by secret ballot at next year's Olympic Games in the Japanese capital and automatically become members of the IOC.

National Olympic Committees (NOC) had until September 9 to put forward candidates.

They are currently being vetted by the IOC Ethics Commission for ethics, doping and background checks.

A formal announcement is expected following a meeting of the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne on December 3 and 4.

Among those candidatures having already been publicly announced by their NOCs are Pau Gasol, who has played in the National Basketball Association for 18 years and been endorsed by the Spanish Olympic Committee.

The Italian National Olympic Committee, meanwhile, are putting forward Federica Pellegrini, winner of Olympic gold in the 200 metres freestyle at Beijing 2008.

The four athletes chosen will replace the outgoing members whose terms on the IOC Athletes' Commission come to an end at the conclusion of Tokyo 2020, and will serve an eight-year term through to Los Angeles 2028.

Those leaving the group include chairperson Kirsty Coventry, Australia's James Tomkins, France's Tony Estanguet and Sweden's Stefan Holm.

Coventry is eligible to stand for re-election as a member because she competed at Rio 2016, but would not automatically be reinstated as chairperson.

The Zimbabwean, though, has already been appointed by IOC President Thomas Bach as head of the IOC Coordination Commission for the 2022 Summer Youth Olympic Games in Dakar.

This has raised speculation she will be made a permanent IOC member when her current mandate ends.

Slovakian shooter Danka Barteková's term will also end at Tokyo 2020, but she is eligible to stand for re-election as an active athlete and will be a strong contender for one of the four places.

Tomkins, Estanguet and Holm will all step down from the Commission permanently as they are not active athletes.

The 31-year-old Brownlee won the triathlon at London 2012 and retained his title four years later at Rio 2016.

He has not yet decided whether he will chase a record third gold medal at Tokyo 2020 as he has recently been concentrating on Ironman competitions. 

If he is elected, it could leave Britain with four IOC members for the first time since 2017, although only for a short time. 

International Association of Athletics Federations President Sebastian Coe, like Brownlee a double Olympic gold medallist, is expected to be proposed for membership at Tokyo 2020. 

He would join the Princess Royal, an IOC member since 1988, and Sir Craig Reedie, who joined in 1994.

Sir Craig, however, has to step down at the end of 2021 when he reaches the mandatory retirement age of 80. 

The BOA declined to comment when contacted by insidethegames.