COSTA NAVARINO, Greece – The International Olympic Committee, founded in 1894, has had nine presidents.
All have been white men. Eight have been Europeans. Avery Brundage, 1952-72, was American.
On Thursday, in just a single round of voting, the IOC elected Kirsty Coventry, 41, of Zimbabwe, its 10th president. She will formally take over from Thomas Bach in June in Lausanne. He was elected in 2013 and is termed out.
Kirsty Coventry saying thanks upon word she had been elected the IOC’s 10th president — the first woman and first African in the position // Getty Images
“This is an extraordinary moment,” Coventry said as Bach, to the side, beamed.
As a 9-year-old girl, watching the 1992 Barcelona Olympics on TV, she said, “I never thought I would be standing up here one day getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.
“… Thank you from the bottom of my heart. And now we’ve got some work together.”
The work includes, just for starters: when, not if, Russia comes back; how best to deal with the next Summer Games in Los Angeles in 2028 amid a Trump Administration; for that matter, given Salt Lake City in 2034, how to deal with two of the next four Games in the United States; controversies over the female category at the Games; and, the overarching issue, the relevance of the Olympics, particularly for young people, in the 21st century.
This election, given the array of issues arguably the most consequential in 131 years of IOC history, saw seven candidates in the field. But it was always a test of one thing – did Bach, who pushed hard behind the scenes for Coventry, still have the juice?
This was to be the Bach legacy – not just the end game, if you will, but the natural consequence of the signature piece of his presidency, the Agenda 2020 package, launched in 2014, that saw, among other things, equal numbers of men and women on the field of play at the Paris 2024 Games.
Throughout his presidency, Bach lived by this motto: change or be changed.
Now, he was clear, it was time to make the change at the top.
Also clear: Bach got his way, emphatically.
The vote here at a Westin resort by the Ionian Sea took place shortly before 5 in the afternoon. That there was a first-round ballot win – no name for another several minutes – was announced immediately. But Bach was shown the details. His face lit up.
In Round One, there were 97 voters. To win would take 49. Coventry got 49.
Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, an IOC vice president, got 28. Sebastian Coe, the World Athletics president, eight.
David Lappartient of France, the cycling federation president, four; Morinari Watanabe, the gymnastics federation president, four; Johan Eliasch, the ski and snowboard federation president, two; Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, an IOC executive board member, two.
World Athletics president Seb Coe meeting the press after the vote
“Clearly, you know, it’s a disappointing result,” Coe said. “But that’s what happens when you go into elections.” A four-time medalist himself in the 1980s in track and field, Coe also made plain to say, time and again, “It’s important that an athlete is at the head of the movement.”
Coventry, a swim star at Auburn who won gold at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games, is the mother of two daughters – the older one 6, younger just 6 months old. The Zimbabwe sports minister, she has risen since becoming a member in 2013 through IOC ranks – now on its policy-making executive board.
In a sign that Olympic insiders understood she was the Chosen One, she has been serving as chair of the IOC panel overseeing preparations for the 2032 Brisbane Games. That position—chair of an upcoming Games—is often a marker for someone seen to be on the rise in the Olympic hierarchy.
Yael Arad, an IOC member for two years who is also president of Israel’s Olympic Committee and that nation’s first Olympic medalist, a silver in judo in 1992, said momentum built here for Coventry.
The Coventry presidency, Arad said, is a signal about the enduring power of the Olympics themselves – anyone can dream, and dream big, and with hard work see that dream come to life.
Coventry paid special tribute Thursday to Anita DeFrantz, the IOC member from Los Angeles since the mid-1980s who, though ill, made the long trip to Greece for this moment. DeFrantz was the first woman to run for IOC president, in 2001, when Jacques Rogge was elected.
“I was just proud I could make her proud,” Coventry said, referring to DeFrantz.
Arad said, “I can tell you that the very last days, many people were thinking what, where, how, and eventually, I think the momentum, you know, of many of us created this big victory.”
IOC president Thomas Bach announcing his successor // IOC / YouTube
Coventry and Bach after the election // Getty Images
Thursday’s voting must also be understood in light of what happened on Wednesday, the first day of the IOC assembly, which saw an hours-long recitation of why, to hear it told, Agenda 2020 marked real change.
Does it? History will be the judge.
But inside the room, that was of little to no moment.
Because the gospel of Agenda 2020 gave way immediately late Wednesday afternoon to a lengthy tribute to Bach. Twenty members offered praise as if Elon Musk was at the top table at a DOGE conference.
These tributes mattered so much to someone that the IOC communications department transcribed everything that was said word for word and emailed the document to a worldwide distribution list by mid-morning Thursday local time.
As has been said many times here and now again, Bach deserves enormous credit for leading the IOC through the pandemic, including the Games in Tokyo 2020/1 and Beijing 2022.
When it came to his turn to talk, Bach seemed genuinely moved, wiping away tears.
“And now it’s time for new leadership,” he said, adding a few moments later, “If the new president would like to have some advice or support, they can call me in the middle of the night. I’ll be happy.
“I don’t know whether I will respond then. You know I love my eight hours of sleep and also in the morning, but I’ll be ready at any time if they want my advice. If not, I will not impose my advice.
“I take this vote from you today as an honor, but there are more important things in life than honors. And a more important thing in life is friendship. Thank you very much.”
Who of the seven might seek advice in the middle of the night? Coe, hardened by conflict with Russia as World Athletics president? Eliasch, the billionaire owner and former longtime chief executive of the Head sports and equipment brand, an advisor to British governments of both parties? Feisal, with a military background?
This seems to be the signal challenge Coventry must confront early on: proving she is her own president, not under Bach’s command and control or, for that matter, senior IOC staff.
In remarks Wednesday, Austria’s Karl Stoss said from the floor, “We don’t need a leader who makes us great again,” a reference to Coe, seen as offering too much change. Referring to Bach, Stoss went on, “We need a leader like you. With strong backbones.”
With 49 votes, that made for an empathic declaration: the members believe that’s Kirsty Coventry.
Asked at that news conference about Trump, Coventry indicated she is more than ready for the challenge: “I have been dealing with difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old. First and foremost, what I have learned is that communication is key. That is something that will happen early on.
“My firm belief is that President Trump is a huge lover of sport. He will want these [LA] Games to be significant, and we will not waver from our values.”
She also offered a different, lighter note – a sign perhaps of a human side that may emerge as a keystone of the Coventry presidency.
Her 6-year-old, she said, ran up and said, “Mom, you won!”