Behind closed doors in a resort in the west of Greece, the members of the International Olympic Committee have written history by choosing the first President of the world’s largest sports organization.
Kirsty Coventry will be the 10th President of the IOC after members from all over the world have given their secret voting and divided the 41-year-old in the first ballot.
Shortly after her mentor, the outgoing President Thomas Bach, announced her name as the winner on Thursday, Coventry told the crowd that it was a position that she could never have imagined in her home country Zimbabwe at the age of nine when she set a goal to go at the Olympic Games.
She reached this goal and competed as an athlete at five different Olympic Games, most recently in Rio in 2016. She received seven medals in the pool, including two Olympic championships in the 200-meter backstroke.
Now her ascent to the upper post of the Olympic Games has come in the same country in which Coventry won her first Olympic medal in Athens, at the moment in a full circle.
Coventry secured 49 of possible 97 votes. Her next closest competitor, IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., received 28 votes. Sebastian Coe, President of the World Athletics, who is also considered the front manager, received eight votes.
“I am incredibly honored and excited to be elected President of the International Olympic Committee. I would like to sincerely thank my colleagues for their trust and support,” said Coventry, who receives an eight -year mandate in 2033.
“I am particularly proud to be the first IOC president and also the first from Africa. I hope that this coordination will be an inspiration for many people. Glass ceilings have been shaken today, and I am fully aware of my responsibility as a model.”
Only another woman – Anita Defrantz in 2001, when Jacques Rogge was elected – ever landed for the top job in the IOC, who has no gender -specific parity among his members.
Coventry will replace Bach on the 23rd of Juni-Official Olympic Tag-as 10th IOC President in his 131-year history. Bach reached the maximum of 12 years in office.
“We have something together”
She is not only the first president, but also the second youngest, who heads the organization and the first from Africa.
“I will make you all very, very proud and hopefully very safe in the decision you made,” said Coventry in your AnnahmereDe. “Now we have something together.”
Coventry’s victory was also a victory for Bach, which has long been considered his successor. He did not use his right to vote, and when he spoke to reporters in January, Coventry played down that Bach preferred her.
“Congratulations to Kirsty Coventry for election as 10th IOC President,” said Bach. “I warmly welcome the decision of the IOC members and look forward to a strong cooperation, especially during the transition period.
Also in the race were four presidents of sports administrations: Athletics Coe, Johan Eliasch (two votes) by Skiings, David Lappartiets Cycling (four votes) and Morinari Watanabe of gymnastics (four votes). Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan (two voices) was also fighting.
“I think the athletes will be very confident that they have an athlete at the head of the organization,” Coe told reporters after the loss. “You can only concentrate on what is actually ahead of you. It’s the great thing about being an athlete. Competitions come and go. They win some, they lose some.”
The Coventry platform emphasized the prioritization of the athletes, the improvement of digital engagement with the audience and the improvement of transparency with “zero tolerance to corruption, doping and unethical behavior”.
“We have to find more opportunities to influence athletes directly and achieve income before they become Olympies,” Coventry told reporters in January. That, she said, is often the most difficult challenge for athletes.
“On my trip it was easy to get sponsorship when I won a medal. It was hard that it was hard.”
Secret ballot and several front conductors
The day before the vote, Coventry kept her comments on the press order and appeared optimistic and energized.
She said she enjoyed the competition and compared the last hours before coordination as a home scene in a race in the pool, as an adrenaline – a feeling that she knows well.
With three perceived front runners under seven candidates, secret ballot papers in several rounds and only one opportunity for the President Hope hopes to speak to the members-only 15 minutes in Switzerland in January and no ability to ask questions from the voters at this session.
About 100 members voted from all over the world. They ranged from current and former athletes to some members of the royal families, including King Frederik X of Denmark and Prince Albert II of Monaco. Tricia Smith, President of the Canadian Olympic Committee, was given only one voice from Canada.
She supported Coventry’s campaign.
“She is incredibly experienced,” said Smith in an interview with CBC Sports after the vote. “She knows the Olympic movement from the inside and outside. She lives the values of the Olympic movement.”
She felt that Coventry’s values made her the best person for the job, but she also said that Coventry should be added to the youth what the IOC needs when trying to achieve a younger, clogged generation of sports fans.
Climate change, political instability on Coventry’s record
The most important challenges for Coventry will steer the Olympic movement through political and sporty problems in the direction of the 2028 summer games in Los Angeles, including diplomacy with US President Donald Trump.
“When it comes to the USA and LA, I have had difficult men in high positions since the age of 20,” Coventry told reporters after the election. “First and foremost, I learned that communication will be the key. That will happen early.”
But the IOC “won’t fluctuate from our values”, it is.
Trump has spoken out about the ban on transgender women to take part in female sports categories and signed an order in his country. The IOC has no policy that leaves these decisions of international sports associations.
Coventry said that the IOC would set up a task force in addition to the international sports vernies to check the problem. Coventry said she wants the IOC to take on “a little more a leading role” than now.
“My attitude is that we will protect the female category and athletes,” she said.
We will all bring together, sit down and have a little more unit in the discussion.
The Coventry IOC also has to find a host for the 2036 summer games that could go to India or the Middle East.
The biggest challenge of everyone could be to lead the Olympic Games through climate change, which could endanger the future of both summer and winter games.
