Kirsty Coventry was elected the new president of the International Olympic Committee Thursday.
Coventry, 41, becomes the first woman and first African called President of The IOC.
“It is a signal that we are really worldwide,” Coventry said about her election.
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Kirsty Coventry responds after being announced as the new IOC president at the 144th session of the International Olympic Committee in Costa Navarino, Greece, Thursday 20 March 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Coventry, a two-time Olympic swimming gold medal winner, won in the first round of voting among seven candidates voted by 97 IOC members. Coventry gets a mandate of eight years that runs until 2033.
The voters in the exclusive invited club of IOC members are royal family members, former legislators and diplomats, managers, sports officials and Olympic athletes.
It was not expected that a candidate would be chosen in the first round. Several rounds were predicted. Coventry received the exact majority of 49 necessary voices.
Kirsty Coventry laughs during a press conference after being elected the new IOC president of the 144th session of the International Olympic Committee in Costa Navarino, Greece, Thursday 20 March 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Others in the running were four presidents of sports boards: Track and Field’s Sebastian Coe, Skis Johan Eliasch, Cycling’s David Lappartient and Gymnastics’ Morinari Watanabe from Gymnastics. Prince Feisal was also Hussein of Jordan.
“I will make you all very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have made,” Coventry said in her acceptance speech. “Now we have some work together.”
Coventry was the sports minister of Zimbabwe and the departing IOC president Thomas Bach had argued for her as his successor.
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IOC President Thomas Bach holds the name Kirsty Coventry because she is announced as the new IOC president in the 144th session of the International Olympic Committee in Costa Navarino, Greece, Thursday 20 March 2025. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach on a transfer on 23 June, which is the Olympic day, as the 10th IOC president in his 131-year-old history. Bach reached the maximum 12 years in function.
Coventry won back-to-back titles in the 200-meter backstroke on 2004 Olympic Games in Athens And in Beijing four years later. She joined the IOC in 2013, almost a year after a disputed athlete election at the Olympic Games in London.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
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