Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation Kirsty Coventry is making an historic bid to lead the International Olympic Committee (IOC), hoping to become the first female president of the organization in its 130-year history.
Coventry, 41, is a decorated Olympian herself having won two gold medals, four silver and a bronze in backstroke and medley events in the pool, having shone at the Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) Games.
It is the best medal haul of any Olympian from Africa, and since retirement she has turned to politics having been Zimbabwe’s sports minister since 2018.
That experience will come in handy as she bids for the presidency of the IOC, hoping to take over from incumbent Thomas Bach, whose term has come to an end, but she comes up against six strong candidates.
Englishman Sebastian Coe is the president of World Athletics, Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs from Spain is the current IOC vice-president, Morinari Watanabe from Japan is president of the International Gymnastics Federation, David Lappartient from France is president of the International Cycling Union, Johan Eliasch of England is president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation; and Prince Feisal Al Hussein from Jordan is a member of the IOC executive board.
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“I really felt it was time for Africa now, time for a woman and just time in general,” Coventry told Zimbabwe Sports Hub. “I think when you get to certain pathways in your career, you have to choose whether or not you are going to keep running the race, move forward or not.
“And for us, for me, for my family, for a lot of support that I have received from my African colleagues, from my IOC colleagues, everything felt like the time is now to throw my hat into the ring and again come back to being an athlete.”
Coventry does have experience of administration within the IOC, she was elected chairperson of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide, in 2018. She also serves on the IOC’s executive committee.
The election of a new president will take place at the 144th IOC Session in Athens, Greece, from March 18-21, 2025.
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