In a resort in western Greece, members of the International Olympic Committee made history by electing the first female president of the world’s largest sports organization after working behind closed doors.
Kirsty Coventry will become the tenth president of the International Olympic Committee after members from around the world voted secretly and voted on the 41-year-old in the first vote.
After her mentor Thomas Bach announced her name on Thursday, Coventry told the crowd that it was her nine-year-old Zimbabwe position when she scored her goal to the Olympics.
She achieved this goal, playing in five different Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
Now, the highest position she promoted to at the Olympics has appeared in the same country, and Coventry won her first Olympic medal in Athens in 2004 at the entire circle.
Coventry received 49 of the possible 97 votes. Her next rival, IOC vice president Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., received 28 votes. World Track and Field President Sebastian Coe is also considered the leader, receiving eight votes.
“I am honored to be elected President of the International Olympic Committee. I would like to sincerely thank my colleagues for their trust and support,” Coventry said.
“I am going to be the first female IOC president and the first female lead in Africa. I hope this vote will be an inspiration for many. The glass ceiling has been broken today and I am fully aware of my responsibility as a role model.”
Only another woman – Anita Defrantz when Jacques Rogge was elected in 2001 – once held the highest position in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and has not yet possessed gender equality among its members.
Coventry will officially replace Bach (the Olympics officially held) on June 23, becoming the 10th International Olympic Committee President with a 131-year history. Bach served for up to 12 years.
“We’ve worked together”
In addition to being the first female president, she will be the second-year leader of the organization and the first person from Africa.
“I will make you all very, very proud and hope to be very confident in the decisions you made,” Coventry said in his acceptance speech. “Now we are working together.”
Coventry’s victory was also a victory for Bach, who has long been regarded as a promotion to successor. He did not use his voting rights, and Coventry underestimated Bach’s preference for her when he spoke to reporters in January.
“Congratulations to Kirsty Coventry on his election as President of the 10th International Olympic Committee (IOC),” Bach said. “I very much welcome the decisions of the IOC members and look forward to strong cooperation, especially during the transition period. There is no doubt that the future of our Olympic movement is bright and the values we represent will continue to guide us in the years to come.”
There are also four presidents of sports governing bodies in the competition: Track and Field Department, Johan Eliasch of skiing (two votes), David Lapartient of cycling (four votes) and Morinari Watanabe of gymnast (four votes). Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan is also controversial (two votes).
“I think athletes will be very confident that they have an athlete at the helm of the organization,” Coy told reporters after the defeat. “You can only focus on what’s actually happening in front of you. It’s the benefit of an athlete. The competition comes and goes. You win a little, you lose a little.”
Coventry’s platform emphasizes prioritizing athletes, improving digital engagement with audiences and increasing transparency, and “zero tolerance for corruption, stimulants and immoral behavior.”
“We need to find more ways to directly affect athletes’ income,” Coventry told reporters in January. She said that is usually the toughest challenge athletes overcome.
“Once I win medals, it’s easy to get sponsorship. It’s a tough medal.”
Secret votes and multiple leaders
The day before the vote, Coventry introduced her remarks to the news media, showing optimism and vitality.
She said she loved the game and used the last few hours before the game with adrenaline taking over as the last few hours of the game, which was what she knew.
With three of the seven candidates deemed a leader, the multiple rounds of secret votes have only one chance to give the president a formal speech to members – only 15 minutes per person in Switzerland in January and not able to ask questions at the meeting – the results are difficult to predict.
About 100 members voted for the global. They range from current and former athletes to some royal family members, including King Frederick X of Denmark and Albert II of Monaco. Tricia Smith, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee, voted only from Canada.
She supports Coventry’s campaign.
“Her experience is incredible,” Smith said in an interview with CBC Sports after the vote. “She knows the Olympics inside and outside. She sticks to the values of the Olympics.”
She feels Coventry’s values make her the best candidate for the job, but she also says Coventry should be relevant to young people, which is what the IOC needs when trying to attract young, more plugged sports fans.
Climate change, political instability on the Covent board
The main challenge for Coventry will be a shift to the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles through political and sports issues, including diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump.
“When I talked about the United States and Los Angeles, I’ve been dealing with difficult men since I was 20,” Coventry told reporters after the election. “First of all, what I learned is that communication will be key. It’s something that happened very early.”
However, in the process, the IOC “will not shake from our values.”
Trump has made a blunt ban on trans women from participating in women’s sports, signing orders in his country. The IOC has no such policy and leaves these decisions to the International Sports Federation.
Coventry said the IOC will form a working group with the International Sports Federation to review the issue. Coventry said she hopes the IOC will play “more leadership roles” than it is now.
“My position is that we will protect the female category and the female athletes,” she said.
We will bring everyone together, sit down, and have more solidarity in the discussion.
The IOC in Coventry also needs to find the host of the 2036 Summer Olympics, which may go to India or the Middle East.
But all the biggest challenges may be to guide the Olympics through climate change, which could threaten the future of the summer and winter Olympics.
