Kirsty Coventry entered history as the first woman and first African president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), winning the election in a landslide. She beat Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Sebastian Coe to win the elections.
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Pylos, Greece: Kirsty Coventry struck the glass ceiling of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday to become the first woman and first African president of the organization in 130 years of history.
Zimbabwean swimming big, already an imposing figure in the Olympic circles, came out victorious to replace Thomas Bach, guaranteeing the best job in world sport and inaugurating a new era for games.
Coventry only needed a voting round to win the race to succeed Bach, winning an immediate global majority in the secret ballot with 49 of the 97 votes available.
She beat Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. in second place, the Spaniard winning 28 votes. Sebastian Coe, in Great Britain, considered one of the leading runners in the days preceding the vote, arrived third with eight votes.
The remaining votes went to French David Lappartient, Prince Feisal de Jordan, Johan Eliasch, born in Swedish, and Morinari Watanabe from Japan.
“It is not only an immense honor, but it is a reminder of my commitment to each of you that I will direct this organization with so much pride,” said Coventry radiating to his colleagues members of the CIO at Luxury Seaside Resort in the southwest of the Peloponnese of Greece which organized the session of the IOC.
“I will make you all very, very proud and I hope extremely confident with the choice you made today, thank you from the bottom of your heart.
“Now we have work together and I would like to thank the candidates – this race was an incredible race and that has improved, it made us a stronger movement.
“I know according to the conversations I had with each of you, how strong our movement will be.”
The seven -time Olympic medalist joined the CIO athlete commission in 2012, and its election to the main employment signals a new era for the IOC, with expectations that it will bring a new perspective to urgent issues such as athletes’ rights, gender debate and the sustainability of games.
Champion of sport development in Africa, Coventry is committed to extending Olympic participation and guaranteeing that the games remain relevant to the young generations.
It also inherits the complex task of navigating relations with global sports federations and sponsors while maintaining the financial stability of the IOC, which has relied heavily on its dissemination and sponsorship agreements of several billion dollars.
As it takes over, the global sports community will watch closely to see how it shapes the future of the world’s largest multi-sport organization.
