IOC: First woman at the top – Kirsty Coventry is the successor of Bach

Kirsty Coventry bowed to the IOC members in the auditorium and was congratulated by the outgoing President Thomas Bach by kiss. The former top swimmer is the first woman to head the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe was elected successor to the German Bach at the 144th IOC General Assembly in a Greek holiday resort. Coventry is also the first IOC member from Africa to lead the Olympic umbrella organization in its 131-year history.

Bach, 71, could no longer be re -elected after twelve years and two terms of office according to the rules of the Olympic Charter. Coventry prevailed against six competitors, all of men. The British Athletics World Association for Sebastian Coe, 68, and Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., 65, son of the former IOC President were previously considered co-favorites. Surprisingly, Coventry was determined as the new president after the first ballot.

“This is an extraordinary moment. As a nine-year-old girl, I would never have thought that one day I would be here,” said Coventry and always thanked the IOC members: “This is not only a great honor, but also a memory of my commitment to each individual. I will make you all proud. Now we have made a lot of work before us.”

In the end of closed doors, Coventry received the necessary absolute majority of the voices. The Minister of Sports by Zimbabwe was acted in advance as a Bach’s desired candidate. It is expected that it will largely continue the sports policy lines of the Lower Franconia. “We are different people with different styles,” said Coventry before your choice.

The mother of two promises more openness and wants to involve the IOC members more than this has been under Bach in recent years. “Women are ready. I see this as an opportunity to tear down barriers,” Coventry said about her application. As a swimmer, she won two gold medals at Olympics, took part in five summer games between Sydney 2000 and Rio in 2016. In 2013 she initially moved to the IOC as an athlete representative, in 2018 also to the Executive Committee, where the relevant decisions were made under Bach.

Coventry was not undisputed in her ministerial office in Zimbabwe. Farm of accusations that she accepted a farm confiscated by the former dictator Robert Mugabe as a gift, she said a court.

Coventry does not take over the IOC head chair on June 24th. Until then, Bach continues to run the business. Bach let him not like the short familiarization period when he took office in 2013. The long transition period is “nothing we invented”. There is also something like that in governments and large companies.

The German Olympic Sports Association immediately came to the first congratulations. “She knows what a successful future of the Olympic sport is needed. As an active member of the Olympic movement, the DOSB will continue to actively work for the spread of the Olympic values ​​in Germany and the worldwide sports development. We are therefore looking forward to the cooperation,” said DOSB President Thomas Weikert.

Bach had recently oracelted for Coventry than at the beginning of his term. The highly tense global political situation and the grown distrust of large institutions should not pass without a trace at the IOC.

Dealing with Vladimir Putin’s Russia remains a sensitive topic. Donald Trump’s return to the White House gives the IOC an unpredictable Olympic host for the summer games 2028 in Los Angeles. The effects of climate change on the sports world, the opportunities and risks of artificial intelligence and the search for new sources of money should also be difficult for the rings circle.