Kirsty Coventry elected as first woman IOC president

In its 130-year history, Kirsty Coventry became the first woman and first African president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The Zimbabwean swimming legend won the Olympic competition on Thursday to take Thomas Bach’s place, clinching a new era for the sport and bringing a new era to the Games.

As the victory came to an end, she grinned and said, “It’s a really powerful signal.” It sends a strong message that we are truly global, that we have evolved into a truly inclusive organization, and that we will continue to do so. ”

With 49 of the 97 votes cast, Coventry won the secret ballot’s final round of voting to succeed Bach.

Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr., who was second, won 28 votes, overtaking her. Sebastian Coe, a frontrunner in the days leading up to the election, came in third with eight votes.

Frenchman David Lappartient, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, Johan Eliasch of Sweden, and Morinari Watanabe of Japan received the rest of the vote.

At the lavish beachfront resort in Greece’s southwest Peloponnese where the IOC Session was held, a beaming Coventry exclaimed, “This is not just a huge honour, but it is also a reminder of my commitment to each and every one of you that I will lead this organization with so much pride.”

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, thank you, and I will make all of you very, very proud, and hopefully very confident with the choice you made today, she continued.

Coventry stated that she wants to unite all candidates.

I’m going to have a conversation with President Bach. A handover takeover will take place in a few months. And bringing all the candidates together is what I want to concentrate on. Over the past six months, there have been many fruitful discussions and exchanges.

Decide how exactly we’re going to proceed in the future, IOC, our Olympic movement, and our family. What do we want to concentrate on the first six months of? Although I have some ideas, listening to the IOC members, hearing what they have to say, and hearing how we can work together were two of the key components of my campaign. ”

According to Al Jazeera’s Andrew Richardson, who is based in Greece, Coventry had the first legitimate chance to win the IOC presidency. She was the second woman to do so.

She has been promoted very quickly, Richardson said, and Thomas Bach has worked with her in a number of positions at the IOC to try to give her the best opportunity to showcase her diplomatic and administrative skills.