Who is Kirsty Coventry? Ace Zimbabwean swimmer, next IOC president till 2033 — first woman and African… check here

Former Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry, has been elected as the next President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), making history as the first woman and first African to hold the post, according to an AP report.

A decorated Olympian herself, 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry represented Zimbabwe in many Olympic Games and is the country's Minister of Youth, Arts and Recreation, with a reputation of cracking down on the opposition, it added.

IOC's Next President: Who is Kirsty Coventry?

A former swimmer, Kirsty Coventry is Zimbabwe's most decorated Olympian. Elected as the next IOC president on March 20 for a period of eight years (till 2033), she succeeds mentor Thomas Bach, as per the report. She joined the IOC as a member in 2013.

Kirsty Coventry has made multiple entries in he history books — as the Olympics institution's first ever woman president, and also the first in the post to hail from the African continent. She begins her term in June 2025 and told reporters she plans to resign from her government role in Zimbabwe and move to the IOC's home city of Lausanne in Switzerland, it added.

As a sportsperson, Coventry won back-to-back Olympic golds in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games for the 200 meters backstroke. Her last appearance as an athlete was at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), where she won seven Olympic medals, the highest for anyone from Africa.

Education and Mentorship: What we Know

Studying at an all-girls convent school in capital city of Harare, Kristy Coventry later attended Auburn University in Alabama (USA) and became one of its star swimmers.

Her Olympics debut was at the 2000 Sydney Games while she was a high school student. She won three medals at the subsequent 2004 Athens games and four medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Between 2018-21, Kristy Coventry was the athlete representative on the IOC executive board under her now predecessor Thomas Bach. The report noted that their alignment on policy “frustrated” some athlete groups.

Kristy Coventry: Zimbabwe, Political Career and Robert Mugabe

Currently Zimbabwe's minister of youth, sports, arts and recreation, Kristy Coventry and her government have been faced with accusations of cracking down on dissent and democracy. Zimbabwe is under sanctions by the US and European Union.

She was nicknamed Zimbabwe's “Golden Girl” by late former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and rewarded with a diplomatic passport and $100,000 for her swimming achievments.

Kristy Coventry joined the government after the coup that ousted Mugabe under next President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2017, and was appointed a minister aged just 34. It was a surprise because she had little political experience and is white. She was reappointed sports minister in 2023.

(With inputs from AP)