Kirsty Coventry takes over as IOC president

By Jamie Gardner, PA Chief Sports Reporter

Kirsty Coventry officially became the president of the International Olympic Committee following a formal handover on Monday morning.

The Zimbabwean, a seven-time Olympic medallist, becomes the first woman and the first African to occupy the post, widely considered the most powerful role in sport.

Coventry, at 41, is also the youngest IOC president since Pierre de Coubertin was elected as its first in 1896. She saw off the challenge of Sebastian Coe among others for the job at an IOC Session in Greece in March.

Outgoing president Thomas Bach has held the position since 2013 and handed over the keys to Olympic House at a ceremony in Lausanne on Monday.

Coventry will now serve an eight-year term.

In her first speech as IOC president, she praised the “passion and purpose” of her predecessor and thanked him for keeping the Olympic movement “united in difficult times”.

“I was very fortunate to have very strong women around me from an early age, from my grandmothers, to my mum, to many of you women here today,” she added.

She described her children Ella, six, and seven-month-old Lily as her “rocks” and her “inspiration”.

“I can’t believe that in 1992 when I had the dream of going to the Olympic Games and winning a gold medal for Zimbabwe, that I’d be standing here with all of you, getting to make those dreams come true for more young people around the world,” she said.

Coventry said the Olympic movement was “a platform to inspire, a platform to change lives, and a platform to bring hope”.

She then likened the movement to a spider web.

“It’s complex, it’s beautiful, it’s strong, but it only works if we work together and we remain united,” she said.

Coventry faces a number of challenges – how and when Russia can be reintegrated into the Olympic movement, with no sign of its invasion of Ukraine coming to an end, the protection of the female sport category and handling the impact of climate change on future summer and winter Games to name just three.

Bach told IOC members at Monday’s ceremony before handing over: “You have placed your trust in someone (Coventry) whose life story is deeply rooted in the Olympic movement.

“As an Olympian, she knows what it means to live the Olympic values, she knows how to lead with courage.

“She reflects the truly global nature and the youthful, forward-looking spirit of our Olympic community.”