Coventry opens a new era as she 'smashes the IOC ceiling of Europe and male domination'

On the 21st, Beijing time, the 41-year-old Zimbabwean women's swimming Olympic champion Kirsty Coventry, who defeated six other candidates in the 10th International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidential election, became the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee, and she is also the first president from outside Europe and the United States. Foreign media commented that Coventry smashed the IOC ceiling of Europe and male domination to smithereens in one go.

Kirsty Coventry, became the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee

For the first time in its more than 130-year history, there has been a female IOC president since the election of its first president, Dimitrius Vikelas (Greece), in 1894. Even for female candidates, Anita Di Franz, the U.S. rowing Olympic representative who participated in the 8th IOC presidential election in 2001, was the only one before, and the second female candidate in history Coventry broke the highest competition rate in history "1 out of 7" and opened a new era of election. The election of the IOC President will be held until a majority of the votes cast. Coventry was elected in the first round with 49 of the 97 votes cast.

IOC President Coventry from Africa was also the first. Among the 1~9 IOC presidents, 8 people, including Thomas Bach, the current IOC president from Germany, are from Europe, and only Avery Brandich, the 5th chairman of the IOC who was active from the 50s to the 70s of the 20th century, is from the United States.

IOC President Thomas Bach announced Coventry's election

Born in September 1983, Coventry is 41 years old, the second-youngest in history to assume the presidency for the first time. Baron Pierre de Coubertin (France), the "father of the modern Olympic Games", became the youngest in history at the age of 33 in 1896 when he became the second President of the International Olympic Committee.

Swimmer-turned-Coventry is a sporting hero in Zimbabwe, winning seven Olympic medals alone. Zimbabwe won a total of eight medals (gold, three, silver, four, bronze and one) at the Winter and Summer Olympics. Among them, Coventry won all the medals except for the gold medal in women's hockey at the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Among them, Coventry participated in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, winning 2 golds, 4 silvers and 1 bronze, especially in the women's 200m backstroke.

In August 2009, Coventry set a world record in the women's 200m backstroke at the World Championships and was elected president of the IOC

Not only in Zimbabwe, but across the continent, it is difficult to find a more successful Olympian than her. Coventry, which has set several world records, has been given modifiers such as "Golden Lady" or "National Treasure" in its home country. Coventry City officially embarked on the path of sports administrator after ending his career as a player in 2016.

Coventry has already established itself in the administrative arena after being elected as a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission in 2012, having been active for eight years and also chaired the IOC Athletes' Commission. Coventry has been an IOC Executive Member since 2023 and leads the Brisbane 2032 Summer Olympics Coordination Committee.

At the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the World Swimming Federation (FINA), Coventry is involved in a variety of activities through the Athletes' Commission, demonstrating its sports administrative expertise. In 2018, Coventry was appointed Zimbabwe's Minister for Youth, Sports and Culture, leaving a footprint at the government level.

Coventry being congratulated by Vice-President Nicole Hoberts after being elected IOC President (left)

Coventry, who studied in the United States at university, married her agent Taryn Seward in 2013 and is currently a "mother" of two daughters. Coventry, which is in many ways very different from its predecessor IOC president, will be the new leader, and future changes to the IOC, which is centred on "European men" and is considered a conservative organisation, will also be in the spotlight.

Coventry's IOC chairmanship, which runs until 2033, will oversee four Olympic and Summer Olympic Games. Coventry said on his election: "It's really a strong signal. This shows that we are truly global and evolving towards embracing diversity. We will continue to follow this path for 8 years. This heralds the beginning of a new era.