History made as new Olympic boss named, immediately prepares for 'difficult' Trump meeting
Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Friday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports.
“It is a signal that we are truly global,” the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist said.
Hers was a stunning first-round win in the seven-candidate contest after voting by 97 IOC members.
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She gets an eight-year mandate into 2033 aged just 41 — youthful by the historical standards of the IOC — with a likely early test in meeting with US president Donald Trump about the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Coventry was asked at a news conference about going to the White House.
IOC president Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new president. AP
“I have been dealing with let’s say difficult,” taking a pause, “men in high positions since I was 20 years old. What I have learned is that communication will be key,” she said.
It was the most open and hard-to-call IOC presidential election in decades with Coventry expected to lead the first round short of an absolute majority. Though several rounds of votes were widely predicted, she got the exact majority of 49 needed.
Coventry’s win also was a victory for outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach, who has long been seen as promoting her as his successor. He did not use his right to vote.
“I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken,” Coventry said in her acceptance speech. “Now we have got some work together.”
IOC President Thomas Bach holds up the name of Kirsty Coventry as she is announced as the new IOC president. AP
Walking to the podium, she was congratulated and kissed on both cheeks by Juan Antonio Samaranch, her expected closest rival who got 28 votes.
“For her to start her presidency with those numbers, it is a sign of optimism to all of us,” Samaranch said. “We will all be behind her.”
Also in the race were four presidents of sports governing bodies: Track and field's Sebastian Coe, skiing's Johan Eliasch, cycling’s David Lappartient, and gymnastics' Morinari Watanabe. Also contending was Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan.
Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach at a June 23 handover — officially Olympic Day — as the 10th IOC president in its 131-year history. Bach reached the maximum 12 years in office.
Key challenges for the Auburn University graduate will be steering the Olympic movement through political and sporting issues toward 2028 in LA.
Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry reacts after setting a new world record in the women's 100m backstroke in 2008. AP
Coventry’s IOC will also need to find a host for the 2036 Summer Games which could go to India or the Middle East. A key IOC member, who voted Friday, is Nita Ambani from the wealthiest family in Asia.
The strongest candidates in a five-month campaign with tightly controlled rules drafted by the Bach-led IOC seemed to be Coventry — who gave birth to her second child — IOC vice president Samaranch and Coe.
Coventry's manifesto offered mostly continuity from Bach with little new detail, while her rivals had specifics to benefit Olympic athletes, which she was as recently as 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Coe's World Athletics broke an Olympic taboo by paying $80,000 to track and field gold medalists in Paris last year. Samaranch promised to relax strict IOC commercial rules and give athletes control of footage of their Olympic performances.
IOC President, Kirsty Coventry, speaks to the media. Getty
Samaranch tried to follow his father, also Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the IOC’s seventh president from 1980 to 2001.
Coe aimed to add to a remarkable career of Olympic triumphs: A two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1500 metres, he led a bidding team for the 2012 London Olympics, then worked for the next seven years to head the organising team of those widely praised Games. He got just eight votes.
“I’m really pleased that it is an athlete that has emerged at the head of the organisation,” Coe said. “I think that’s really important. Clearly, it’s a disappointing result, but that’s what happens when you go into an election."
It has been a stellar week for Bach, who greeted Coventry and shared warm smiles after her acceptance speech.
Bach was feted on Wednesday in an emotional start to the IOC annual meeting, getting lavish praise and the title of honorary president for life. He repeated his wish to offer advice to the next president.
Asked after Coventry won if he had intervened to campaign for her, Bach suggested in an election “don’t blame the voters, don’t blame the procedure.”
One of Coventry’s voters, Anita DeFrantz, was the only previous female candidate for the presidency in 2001. DeFrantz traveled from the United States to cast her historic vote despite serious health issues.
"I was really proud that I could make her proud,” Coventry said, tearing up, calling DeFrantz an inspiration.
