New world order as icon brutally snubbed in ‘shock’ Olympics vote

There is a new world order after a new boss of Olympics was elected in a shock result as Vladimir Putin issued a desperate plea.

Sebastian Coe said Kirsty Coventry’s clear victory in the race to be International Olympic Committee president on Thursday was a “historic moment”, as the Briton digested his disappointing third-place finish.

Zimbabwean Coventry won in the first round of voting in Greece with 49 of the 97 votes from IOC members, while Coe received just eight votes in a shock result given he was previously the frontrunner to take over from outgoing president Thomas Bach.

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The president of World Athletics and himself a double 1500 metres Olympic champion on the track, Coe said he was delighted that Coventry, who won two Olympic golds in the pool, would lead the body.

“She’s the first woman, it’s a very historic moment,” Coe said.

“I’m absolutely delighted for Kirsty. We’ve got an athlete at the head of the organisation, that’s a good thing.

“We chatted actually about that only a couple of weeks ago and agreed that that would be the preferred outcome and that’s what’s happened.

“So I’ve congratulated her and she’s got a huge job but she will have the confidence of the athletes and that’s very important.”

Outgoing IOC president Bach was rumoured to have strongly supported Coventry’s campaign.

Newly-elected president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Zimbabwean Kirsty Coventry. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

Reasons behind Coe’s brutal snub

Although Coe was once close to Bach, relations between the two men have soured due to the Briton’s stance on issues such as banning Russians from track and field following the invasion of Ukraine.

Coe had also campaigned for a more open IOC than the top-down organisation presided over by Bach.

Asked how he viewed the result, Coe said: “It’s very difficult to make any interpretation at the moment. I think what is pretty clear is that the athletes and the women members in particular supported her very strongly in the first round.”

https://t.co/aVrc3vfGMIpic.twitter.com/aiheVAEwrz

— Seb Coe (@sebcoe) March 20, 2025

Coe had complained last week that the IOC election process needed overhauling.

“I have a very clear view, which I think I’ve expressed, about what the challenges are and what the movement needs to address. But Kirsty will, I’m sure, want to deal with the same issues.”

Fox Sports News reporter Alex Thomas said Coe “put some IOC noses out of joint” with his “slightly more radical agenda”.

“I think Sebastian Coe did ruffle a few feathers last year when he gave cash prizes to the gold medal winners in the track and field events at the Olympics,” Thomas said.

Sebastian Coe was once the favourite to be the next IOC president, but he only received eight votes. (Photo by Angelos Tzortzinis / AFP)

“Athletes at the Olympic do not get paid to compete at the Olympics, they do not get prize money. That’s been a bone of contention for some years. The IOC don’t like people trying to change them from the outside.

“I wouldn’t say Kirsty Coventry becoming IOC president was a complete shock. It was known that secretly Thomas Bach was pushing her candidacy.

“I think what is surprising is any organisation like the IOC and FIFA, these entrenched organisations famously filled with old men in blazers, have suddenly elected a woman in her 40s from Africa. It truly is groundbreaking. It is shattering the glass ceiling and a historic moment.”

Kirsty Coventry speaks with Outgoing IOC President, Thomas Bach after being elected. (Photo by Milos Bicanski/Getty Images)

Trump looms large, Putin’s request to new IOC boss

Coventry has plenty of challenges ahead of her in an eight-year tenure encompassing the LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Olympics, as well as the Winter Games.

“Dealing with Donald Trump and the LA Games is just one of several challenges ahead of her,” Thomas said.

“She’s also talked about possible reform of the World Anti Doping Agency. Also how do you reintegrate Russia back into the Olympic movement, they’ve been competing under a neutral flag for years because of the Ukraine conflict.

“Also like all the candidates, she’s taking a much stronger stance on transgender athletes in women’s sport.”

Coventry said “communication will be key” with US President Donald Trump in the lead up to the 2028 LA Olympics.

Coventry said: “I have been dealing with difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Coventry on Thursday, after officials in Moscow urged her to welcome Russia back to the Olympic fold.

In a note addressed to Coventry, Putin said her election as IOC president was “proof of your high authority in the sporting world and recognition of your outstanding personal achievements,” adding he was sure she should would achieve “success” in the role.

Russia dogged outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach’s tenure first with the doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and then Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

Coventry will have to work with US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin (Photo by Elijah Nouvelage and Alexander NEMENOV / AFP)

Result not ‘women versus men’

Bach said the election of Coventry as his successor should not be reduced to a gender battle of “women versus men”.

Bach played down the importance of the 41-year-old from Zimbabwe becoming the first woman to be elected head of international sport’s wealthiest organisation, defeating six other candidates, all men.

“I don’t think we should reduce this election to the fact that there were six men and one woman. I don’t think it was a vote on women versus men or vice versa,” he said.

The German said the victory in the very first round of voting gave Coventry “a very strong mandate” and was “a great signal of unity”, adding: “She can count on the support of the membership.”

Bach insisted he had “no preferred candidate” but recalled that he had said during last year’s Paris Olympics it was time for a new leader who reflected a new era.

He will remain in office until June to oversee the handover to Coventry, a process he said would start on Friday when he will have breakfast with her to discuss the transition.

Coventry garnered 21 more votes than second-placed Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior while Coe finished third in voting.