PYLOS, GREECE:
The stunning first-round election of Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry as the next International Olympic Committee president made her the first female and first African to lead the IOC but more importantly ensured continuity once Thomas Bach departs in June.
Coventry, a multiple swimming Olympic champion and her country’s sports minister, was long seen as incumbent Bach’s preferred choice and her win on Thursday in the first round of voting against six other candidates will only underline the organisation’s desire to continue along the German’s path.
Bach has ruled the IOC for 12 years since 2013, growing its finances and reach, while also overhauling the Games’ structure to make them more attractive to potential future host cities.
Coventry, 41, has held various posts within the IOC since joining in 2013 as a member of the athletes’ commission, and was a staunch supporter of Bach’s decision to stage the pandemic-hit Tokyo 2020 Games a year later even though many athletes opposed such plans due to fragmented preparations and health concerns. She has towed the company line and is not expected to rock the IOC boat, as opposed to some of her fellow presidential candidates who had more radical proposals, including staging Olympics on five continents among other ideas.
Those were seen with some trepidation by the outgoing IOC leadership. So it came as no surprise when Bach said he was relieved following the election result.
“I am very much relieved by the unity that the election result demonstrated,” he told a press conference on Friday. “This important pillar for the success of the Olympic movement has been strengthened. This is why you see me happy, relaxed and relieved.”
Coventry beat senior IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, the head of World Athletics Sebastian Coe, international cycling chief David Lappartient, Jordan’s Prince Feisal, Swedish-born entrepreneur Johan Eliasch and Japan’s Morinari Watanabe.
Her long-standing ties with the United States, dating back to her time as a competitive swimmer, will no doubt prove useful as the IOC prepares for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. Coventry was a star swimmer for Auburn University in Alabama.
Coventry wants sit-down with Trump
Coventry wants to sit down with United States President Donald Trump to make sure the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics are successful, she said on Thursday.
“President Trump is a huge supporter of sport. There’s never been a sitting president that has attended the Super Bowl,” Coventry told Reuters in an interview following her election victory on Thursday.
“He was the president at the time when LA was awarded the Games (in 2017). I truly believe that he wants the LA 28 Games to be a huge success.” Coventry, who is Zimbabwe’s sports minister, as well as Africa’s most decorated Olympian, said both the IOC and the United States wanted successful Olympics in three years time.
The LA Games present a major commercial opportunity, with the IOC seeking to create new sources of revenues, and the American market presenting new opportunities with the first summer Olympics in the United States in more than 30 years. Since taking office on January 20, Trump has announced a number of executive orders that focus on stricter border entry requirements, tighter visa vetting procedures and a crackdown on undocumented immigrants in the United States.
Several IOC members on Thursday who said they had long waits for U.S. visas expressed concerns over entry regulations for athletes travelling to the LA 2028 Olympics, asking U.S. Games organisers for clarifications, given Trump’s hardline border policies.
“It will take sitting down and having a good conversation with him,” she told Reuters, adding that she believed “sharing with him our values and where we want to be, how we want LA to be successful and being very clear on the different priorities (within the IOC).”
Potential rifts
Trump has banned transgender athletes from competing in sports in schools in the United States, which civil society groups say infringes on the rights of trans people. Trump has said he would not allow transgender athletes to compete at the LA Games, but the IOC currently allows transgender athletes to take part in the Olympics.
Trump’s executive order also instructed the State Department to pressure the IOC to change its policy, which allows trans athletes to compete under general guidance preventing any athlete from gaining an unfair advantage.