New Olympic President Elected As Britain's Lord Seb Coe Discovers Fate

A new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been elected.

Kirsty Coventry, the two-time Olympic gold medallist and Zimbabwe sports minister, has become the first woman and first African to be elected to the position.

Britain’s Lord Sebastian Coe lost out in the election he entered as an outsider.

The peer went up against rivals more favoured by the IOC establishment and stood apart from the field with some of his policies – including a blanket ban on transgender women competing in women’s sports.

Speaking after her election victory, Ms Coventry said: “As a nine-year-old girl I never thought I would be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.

“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.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart and now we’ve got some work together.”

Ms Coventry swept aside the competition in the election, getting far more votes than anyone else.

She won the first round of voting with 49 votes, second place, Juan Antonio Samaranch, only got 28 votes with Lord Coe managing eight.

Mr Samaranch congratulated her on her way to the podium to make her speech.

Who is the new Olympic president?

Ms Coventry was born in Harare, Zimbabwe, and made her Olympic debut in 2000, a day after she turned 17.

She won gold in the 200m backstroke at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics – taking home seven medals across those games.

Ms Coventry joined the IOC in 2013, almost one year after a disputed athlete election at the London Olympics.

Her place among the four athletes elected was eventually awarded after a Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling against two opponents.

In 2016, she retired from competing after her fifth Olympic games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Ahead of her victory, speaking on Wednesday, Ms Coventry said: “Let’s create some change, let’s make sure that happens,”.

All of the previous nine presidents were men from Europe or the US.

The 41-year-old sports minister has long been seen as the preferred successor to the outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach and had his support.

Her manifesto offered almost complete continuity with his policies.

The election almost entirely took place in the shadows in a Conclave-style process that gives the winner an eight-year mandate – with the option to run for four more.

The final vote was conducted in the luxury resort of Costa Navarino, in Greece, and confirmed the IOC’s 10th leader in its 131-year history.

Voters in the exclusive club of IOC members include royal family members, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes – even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh.

Members voted without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that swung on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.

Among the issues the winner will have to deal with include navigating a smooth path between politics and sport in the 2028 US summer games opposite Donald Trump, and picking a host for the 2036 competition.

Previous IOC president Thomas Bach formally leaves office on Olympic Day, 23 June, having served a maximum of 12 years in office.

He will pass on a financially secure IOC, on track to earn more than $8bn (£6.2bn) at the LA 2028 games.

One of his signature policies has been gender parity with equal quotas of male and female athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and giving an improved balance of female members in the IOC and on the executive board he chairs.

Also competing in the election were the heads of three other sports governing bodies: skiing’s Johan Eliasch, cycling’s David Lappartient, and gymnastics’ Morinari Watanabe.

Also contending was Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan.

Doonited Affiliated: Syndicate News Hunt

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