Zimbabwean Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Kirsty Coventry becomes IOC president after surprise result
Former Zimbabwe swimmer and Olympic Gold medallist Kirsty Coventry has stunned the world by landing the biggest job in sport and creating history at the historically conservative IOC.
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Zimbabwean sports minister and former swimmer Kirsty Coventry has been elected as the first female president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), marking a monumental shift for one of the oldest and most conservative sporting bodies in the world.
The surprise election result will have a massive impact on the 2032 Brisbane Games, which have already fallen way behind deadline because of ongoing squabbles and lack of clear leadership.
The 41-year-old, who made her Olympic debut at Sydney in 2000, became the first woman, the first African and the youngest person to be appointed as president, a role often described as the most influential in all of sport.
Elected for an eight year term that will include the Brisbane Olympics, Coventry will succeed Germany’s Thomas Bach when he steps down in June after 12 years at the helm. She will become just the 10th IOC president since Pierre de Coubertin was appointed as the first in 1896.
“The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamt of this moment,” Coventry said after the vote in Greece.
“I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC president, and also the first from Africa.
“I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model.”
One of seven candidates running for the job, Coventry secured the required majority of the 97 votes in the first round, securing 49 votes. Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, whose father was president during the Sydney Olympics, finished second with 28 votes while Britain’s Sebastian Coe, who was regarded as the favourite, polled just eight votes.
“As President of the No. 1 Olympic sport, we look forward to working closely with Kirsty to ensure that sport remains the priority of the IOC, and athletes the driving force behind the new president’s agenda,” Coe said.
Coventry had plenty of high-profile supporters, including Bach, who made little attempt to conceal that she was his preferred candidate despite years of complaints from human rights groups that she had served as a government minister for Zimbabwe’s worst dictators.
She has been a federal sports minister for the brutal regime since 2018, serving under Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has been accused of corruption and human rights abuses.
Coventry’s critics have also accused her of being an inefficient leader. Among the many roles she currently has is chair of the co-ordination commission for the Brisbane Olympics, which recently needed a 12 month extension to finalise its program for 2032 after failing to meet its deadline.
After being elected IOC president, Coventry will have to stand down from her role as Brisbane chair, leaving organisers to hurriedly find a replacement with the clock already ticking.
“Kirsty has over many years, demonstrated a deep commitment to the Olympic movement, and is well positioned to lead the International Olympic Committee in this next exciting phase for the organisation,” Chesterman said.
“She is a contemporary athlete, her fifth and final Games was in Rio in 2016, not long ago, so she will resonate with the athletes of today which is absolutely vital for our Olympic movement.
“Kirsty is an authentic leader and passionate about creating opportunities for the athletes of the world.
“Through her role as the IOC’s Chair of the co-ordination commission for Brisbane 2032, Kirsty has already had great involvement in and been a great supporter of the Brisbane Games, and we look forward to working with her and her team to grow the Olympic movement in Australia and delivering the best possible Games in 2032.”
A rare white Olympic champion from Africa, Coventry’s administrative career was fast-tracked the moment she won gold in the 200 metres backstroke at the 2004 Athens Olympics.
She defended her 200m backstroke title at Beijing four years later, but was beaten by Australia’s Stephanie Rice in the 200m and 400m medleys. By the time she retired from swimming, Coventry collected seven Olympic medals as well as world and Commonwealth Games titles.
She was appointed to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2013 then promoted to chair in 2018, which also gave her a seat on the IOC executive board alongside Bach and Australia’s John Coates, another of her supporters.
Coventry has also been criticised for being slow to respond to divisive issues, including the inclusion of trans gender athletes, but came out publicly in favour of protecting women in her manifesto after announcing her intention to run for the leadership.
She will face plenty of tough hurdles in the years ahead, with the next Winter Olympics taking place in northern Italy in less than 12 months and the next Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028 when Donald Trump will still be in the White House.
“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’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.
“Look at the IOC and our Olympic movement and family and decide how exactly we’re going to move forward in the future. 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.”
The final votes for the IOC presidency
49 – Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe)
28 – Juan Antonio Samaranch (Spain)
8 – Sebastian Coe (Britain)
4 – David Lappartient (France)
4 – Morinari Watanabe (Japan)
2 – Prince Faisal bin Hussein (Jordan)
2 – Johan Eliasch (Sweden)
Originally published as Zimbabwean Olympic gold medal winning swimmer Kirsty Coventry becomes IOC president after surprise result
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