Kirsty Coventry made history Monday as she was inaugurated as the first woman and first African president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the organization’s 131st anniversary, with tributes declaring the Olympic movement is “in the best of hands.”
The 41-year-old, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming for Zimbabwe, will officially assume office Tuesday after winning a decisive seven-candidate election in March to succeed Thomas Bach.
Coventry, a mother of two, credited her family, especially her young daughters, as “my rocks, my inspiration” as she prepares to lead the IOC through the next eight years, including the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
“You are my constant reminders of why we do what we do every single day,” Coventry said, addressing 6-year-old Ella, seated near the front of the ceremony.
“You are a constant reminder of why this movement is relevant, why it needs to change, why we need to embrace the new ways,” the new president said. “And you will be a constant reminder for many years to come on the decisions that we all take together.”
She thanked her husband, Tyrone Seward, saying, “You have always stood by my side and never said, ‘No.’ And I appreciate that because that is something that doesn’t come very often.”
Coventry, a former swim team standout at Auburn University, said Olympic leaders are “guardians of a platform ... to inspire, to change lives, to bring hope.”
Bach’s voice cracked with emotion minutes earlier as he handed over a symbolic key to the presidency to his protege in Olympic politics.
The 71-year-old German lawyer, an Olympic team fencing champion in 1976, leaves after the maximum 12 years in office. He said the IOC was now in the “best of hands” with Coventry.
“I believe with all my heart that the Olympic movement is ready for the future,” said Bach, adding he had “given all I could” to the IOC and the Games.
The ceremony took place in a temporary structure in the gardens of Olympic House, designed in the style of the Grand Palais in Paris, which hosted fencing and taekwondo at the Summer Games last year.
On a steamy, humid day at the IOC’s lakeside headquarters, a sudden downpour minutes before the scheduled start forced Bach and Coventry to share an umbrella as they walked from the villa that was once the Olympic home.
The hour-long ceremony included a four-minute tribute montage to Bach, who has now become the IOC’s honorary president. He has expressed a wish to counsel his successor.
Coventry’s first day in office will include a closed-door session to hear the views of around 100 IOC members. They include current and former heads of state, business leaders and billionaires, past and current Olympic athletes, and leaders of Olympic sports.
In a team photo taken after the handover, the IOC member who stayed closest to Coventry was Nita Ambani, a member of India’s richest family and a key figure in the country’s bid to host the 2036 Olympics.
Choosing the host city shapes up as one of the biggest decisions of the new president’s first term.
Asia appears favored, with Middle East neighbors Qatar and Saudi Arabia also preparing bids under the IOC’s more flexible and less predictable process that allows fast-tracking a preferred candidate to avoid a contested vote.
A theme voiced by Coventry’s election opponents – including IOC Vice President Juan Antonio Samaranch – was a desire for more consultation and shared decision-making after Bach’s hands-on presidency. Their first opportunity to speak comes Tuesday.
“It’s an important step to listen and to give people the opportunity to talk,” said William Blick, an IOC member from Uganda, welcoming the powerful symbol of electing the first IOC leader from Africa, who is also a young woman. “It’s a very good way for her to start.”
