The decorated former Olympian and Zimbabwe’s sports minister Kirsty Coventry will replace Thomas Bach as President of the IOC.
“It’s a signal that we’re truly global…”
Double Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry continues to set new records after she was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, becoming the first woman, first African and youngest-ever to hold the prestigious post in the 130-year history of the organization.
Zimbabwean Coventry, 41, needed only one round of voting as she secured her mandate, replacing outgoing president Thomas Bach, who did not stand for re-election.
“It is a really powerful signal,” Coventry said. “It’s a signal that we’re truly global and that we have evolved into an organization that is truly open to diversity and we’re going to continue.”
Coventry won 49 of the 97 votes in the first round for a majority ahead of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, who earned 28 and finished in second. Sebastian Coe from the United Kingdom was third having managed only eight votes.
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“This is not just a huge honor, but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you that I will lead this organization with so much pride,” Coventry said at the IOC session in Pylos, Greece.
“I will make all of you very, very proud, and hopefully extremely confident with the choice you’ve taken today, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
“I’m going to sit down with President Bach. We’re going to have a few months for a handover takeover. And what I want to focus on is bringing all the candidates together. There were so many good ideas and exchanges over the last six months.”
The next Summer Olympic Games are in Los Angeles in 2028 and Coventry must navigate an increasingly difficult geopolitical landscape that will inevitably spill over into sport.
“We need to look at the IOC and our Olympic movement and family and decide how exactly we’re going to move forward in the future,” she said. “What is it that we want to focus on in the first six months? I have some ideas, but a part of my campaign was listening to the IOC members and hearing what they have to say and hearing how we want to move together.
“It’s extremely important we have to be a united front and we have to work together. We don’t and we might not always agree, but we have to be able to come together for the betterment of the movement.”
Coventry is a decorated former Olympian having won two gold medals, four silver and a bronze in backstroke and medley events in the pool.
She shone at the Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) Games. “Greece seems to be my lucky charm,” she said with a smile.
Since retirement she has turned to politics having been Zimbabwe’s sports minister since 2018.
A champion of the African continent, Coventry has pledged to expand Olympic participation and ensure the Games remain relevant to younger generations.
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