Kirsty Coventry is the new IOC President

Kirsty Coventry has been elected the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee.

At the 144th IOC Session held in Costa Navarino, Greece, on Thursday, the 41-year-old Zimbabwean was picked via a secret ballot of seven candidates for an eight-year term of office.

The new President-elect Coventry replaces outgoing President Thomas Bach, who was first elected in 2013 and re-elected in 2021.

Coventry will be the first woman and the first African to serve as IOC President.

"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," President-elect Coventry told the Session.

As her first Olympic Games assignment, The President-elect will oversee the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 which is less that 11 months away.

Who is Kirsty Coventry

The new President-elect is a former professional swimmer having competed at five different Olympic Games.

She debuted at the Sydney 2000 games and called it a day after competing for the final time at Rio 2016.

She won an astounding seven Olympic medals (two gold, four silver, one bronze). She won gold in the 200m backstroke at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008.

Interesting, she is the most successful African athlete at the Olympic games, having won more medals than any other athlete (male or female) from the continent.

Additionally, Conventry has won three long-course World Championship gold medals and four short-course titles during her career. Also, she has a staggering 14 African Games golds and a Commonwealth Games gold to boot. 

Career in sports administration

Since retiring from competitive swimming, the Harare native has transition to a successful career in sports administration.

Coventry has been Zimbabwe's Minister of Sport since 2018 and presently an IOC Member and the Minister of Sport, Art & Recreation in Zimbabwe.

She has also served as a Vice President of the International Surfing Federation from 2017 to 2024.

The Olympian was first elected as an IOC Member as a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission in 2013 and served in that role until 2021, when she was elected as an individual member.

The 41-year-old became a member of the IOC Executive Board when she was elected Chair of the IOC Athletes Commission in 2018.