Kirsty Coventry tells the story as the first elected woman president of the IOC

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe was elected first president of the Olympic International Committee, emerging from a controversial race to seven candidates on Thursday to tackle one of the most powerful roles in world sports.

In an astonishing touch, Coventry, 41, obtained the majority of votes on the very first election bulletin, which was to be a long multi-round voting process during the IOC session in a luxury station in Pyros, Greece. She received 49 of the 97 votes, well in front of Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, who finished second with 28.

In addition to becoming the first woman president of the IOC, Coventry is also the first person in Africa to occupy the role. There were only nine other CIO presidents since the organization's foundation in 1894.

“I am extremely proud of these two different identities,” said Coventry. “I am also grateful to have received a platform to work extremely hard in the last six months with CIO members to really make sure they know who I am and what values I have a lot. It was not only a question of being a woman or being from Africa. I am so grateful that the members have seen more than sex or where I come from.”

Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer, will assume the office on June 24 and serve a first eight -year term, with the possibility of serving four additional years after re -election. The former German fence and longtime director of the IOC, Thomas Bach, has had the post since 2013.

Coventry had long been one of the favorites to win on Thursday, and she would have been Bach's favorite candidate. As a swimmer, she participated in five editions of the summer games from 2004 to 2016 and won seven Olympic medals. Along the way, she also swam in the United States in Auburn and then joined the IOC as a member of the athletes committee in 2013.

Coventry had to obtain 49 votes on the first ballot to win and avoid subsequent voting series, in which the candidate who received the least votes in each turn would be eliminated. And she obtained exactly 49. The finalist was Samaranch, a long -standing executive of the IOC whose father, Juan Antonio Sr., was also president of the IOC. Seb Coe, the president of the International Federation who oversees athletics, ranked third with only eight votes.

The chief of international cycling David Lappartient (four votes), the president of the International Federation of Gymnastics Morinari Watanabe (four voices), Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan (two voices) and the leader of the Federation of Snow and International Snowboard, Johan Eliasch (two voices), completed the candidates.

“We are celebrating the election of Kirsty as the president of the IOC and impatiently foreseeing to collaborate with her as she directs the Olympic movement towards the future,” said Gene Sykes, president of the American Olympic and Paralympic Committee, in a statement.

“While we are impatiently awaiting a decade transformer of Olympic and paralympic sports in the United States – welcoming the games in 2028 and 2034 – a robust partnership with the IOC will be essential. We are convinced that under the leaders of Kirsty, the IOC will offer the stability and the support necessary to achieve our shared objectives.”

With Thursday's victory, Coventry goes to one of the most powerful roles in international sports. The IOC is the richest multi-sport organization in the world, with revenues of more than $ 7.7 billion during the last Olympic cycle, from 2021 to 2024.

The organization is responsible not only for planning and exploiting the Olympic Summer and Winter Games, but also to shape and guide the Olympic movement around the world. And, therefore, the president of the CIO Schmoozes with the heads of state and is sometimes the de facto leader of the global sports community as a whole.

Bach, for example, directed the response of the international sports community to the Russian doping scandal supported by the State at the start of its mandate. He also directed the IOC through the Pandemic COVID-19, which forced the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 games until 2021 and forced the 2022 Winter Olympic Games to keep behind closed doors.

Coventry will now face a new group of challenges – and long and long, in particular the possible return of Russia to the Olympic Games after its invasion of Ukraine, the participation of transgender athletes in female sports and the tensions flowing in the anti -doping community between the United States and the World Anti-Doping Agency. She will also have to work closely with the United States, which is expected to accommodate two of the next five editions of the Olympic Games.

During a press conference on Thursday, Coventry was questioned specifically about the establishment of a relationship with the president Donald TrumpWho threatened to retain visas for transgender athletes before the Los Angeles 2028 Games, even if they are allowed to compete by the IOC.

“I'm dealing, let's say, difficult men in high positions since the age of 20. And above all, what I learned is that communication will be the key,” said Coventry. “My firm belief is that President Trump is a great sport lover. He wants these games to be important, he will want them to be a success.”

Coventry said that she will move to Lausanne, Switzerland – where the CIO headquarters is located – in the coming months and resigns from her government role in Zimbabwe. She has been the Minister of the Pays de la Jeunesse, Sport, Arts and Leisure since 2018, arousing criticism for her role in a government which has been accused of silencing political opposition.

In A recent editorial published by NewsweekA pair of political experts from Human Rights Foundation wrote that Coventry's CIO election would be “a victory for the brutal regime of which it has become the sweet face”.

“I chose to want to try to create changes from the inside. He is criticized, and it's ok,” said Coventry. “At the end of the day, I don't think you can stand on the key and shout and shout for change. I think you have to sit at the table to try to create it.”

Approved boxing for 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games

In other important news from Thursday's session, the IOC has officially approved boxing in the Olympic program for the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles.

The Place de la Boxe aux Games had been in doubt after the CIO fight with the International Boxing Association, the International Federation which previously directed sport. The IOC has reduced links with IBA in 2023 due to governance and growing comfort problems with Russia.

The emergence of a new federation, world boxing, in the last 18 months, has paved the way for the IOC to welcome sport in the Olympic fold.

“It's a great day for boxers, boxing and all those who connected to our sport at all levels around the world,” said Boxing of the World Boris Van Der Vorst after the decision.

“This result was achieved by a massive team effort … and would not have been possible without the hard work and the commitment of all the national federations, boxers, coaches, managers and boxers who worked together to allow this to happen.”

Milan Cortina GLIDING TRACK on time

CIO members have also been updated from the organizers of the Milan -Cortina winter games of next year – including news on Cortina Sliding Center which is supposed to organize bobslet, skeletons and sledding events.

Milan-Cortina's chief executive officer Andrea Varnier told members of the IOC that efforts to build and prepare the track were on time, and athletes should test him next week. Bach called it “a clear and encouraging report”.

“After these reports today, I must tell you that we are no longer nervous,” said Bach. “Confidence in your abilities remains and has even been reinforced today. We can delight brilliant fantastic winter games.”

The organizers rushed to build and prepare the track before next year's Olympic Games, and there was so much uncertainty about the chronology that they felt forced to organize a B plan. If the track is not ready, slippery events will take place in Lake Placid, New York.

Contribution: Reuters

Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatuday.com or on social networks @ tomschad.bsky.social.

This article originally appeared on USA Today: Kirsty Coventry elected the first woman president of the IOC

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