BREAKING: Kirsty Coventry Elected First African, Female IOC President

Kirsty Coventry from Zimbabwe has been elected as the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry won the position through a secret ballot among seven candidates during the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece, on Thursday, March 20. She will serve an eight-year term.

Kirsty Coventry is making history as both the first African and the first woman to hold the IOC presidency. She takes over from Thomas Bach, who was first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2021.

She will officially assume office on Olympic Day, June 23, following a handover from President Bach. After stepping down, Bach will also resign as an IOC member and take on the title of Honorary President.

Expressing her excitement, Coventry said, “This is an extraordinary moment. As a nine-year-old girl, I never thought I’d be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible Movement of ours.”

She continued, “This is not just a huge honour, but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you that I will lead this organisation with so much pride, with the Values at the core. And I will make all of you very, very proud, and hopefully extremely confident in the decision that you have taken today. Now we’ve got some work together. This race was an incredible race, and it made us better, made us a stronger Movement.”

Kirsty Coventry’s first Olympic Games as president will be the Winter Games in Milano Cortina 2026, which is now less than 11 months away where she will show her prowess as the leader of the IOC.
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