Zimbabwean Coventry elected as IOC’s first female president
Kirsty Coventry has become the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) first female and African president in its 130-year history.
The Zimbabwean sports minister, already a towering figure in Olympic circles, emerged victorious to replace Thomas Bach at the 144th IOC Session held in Costa Navarino, Greece.
Coventry becomes the IOC’s 10th president and she will serve an eight-year term in the role, beginning in June.
At 41, she will be the IOC’s youngest president.
“It’s a really powerful signal,” said Coventry, who won two Olympic gold medals across five Games.
“It’s a signal that we’re truly global and that we have evolved into an organisation that is truly open to diversity and we’re going to continue.”
Coventry (left) will replace Thomas Bach in the IOC’s top role. (Getty Images: Milos Bicanski)
Coventry needed only one round of voting to clinch the race to succeed Bach, winning an immediate overall majority in the secret ballot with 49 of the available 97 votes.
She beat Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr (28 votes) into second place.
Great Britain’s Sebastian Coe, considered one of the front-runners, came third with eight votes.
The remaining votes went to Frenchman David Lappartient, Jordan’s Prince Feisal, Swedish-born Johan Eliasch, and Japan’s Morinari Watanabe.
“This is not just a huge honour but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you that I will lead this organisation with so much pride,” Coventry said.
“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.”
Coventry pledges to ‘move forward’
Coventry said she wanted the IOC to be built on unity.
“I’m going to sit down with President Bach. We’re going to have a few months for a handover takeover,” she said.
“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.
“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.”
Coventry (centre) won two Olympic gold medals during her decorated swimming career. (Getty Images: Ezra Shaw)
Coventry, a seven-time Olympic medallist, was added to the IOC Athletes Commission in 2012.
She won back-to-back gold medals in the 200 metres backstroke at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Beijing four years later.
Her election to the top job signals a new era for the IOC, with expectations she will bring a fresh perspective to pressing issues such as athlete rights, the gender debate and the sustainability of the Games.
A champion of sport development in Africa, Coventry has pledged to expand Olympic participation and ensure the Games remain relevant to younger generations.
She also inherits the complex task of navigating relations with global sports federations and sponsors while maintaining the IOC’s financial stability, which has relied heavily on its broadcasting and sponsorship deals.
Reuters
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