Kirsty Coventry, a 41-year-old former Zimbabwean swimmer, aims to challenge the status quo by becoming the first female president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
She would also become the youngest president and the first person from outside Europe or North America to lead the organization in its 130-year history. If elected, Coventry plans to empower female athletes by introducing stronger safeguarding procedures and providing more support for mothers.
Serving as Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sport, Arts, and Recreation since 2018, Coventry won seven medals, including two golds, at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics. She also leads IOC commissions overseeing the progress of the Dakar 2026 Youth Olympics and the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
Describing herself as being “at the crossroads between the older generation and the younger generation,” Coventry intends to embrace new technologies such as online streaming and artificial intelligence (AI) to “remain relevant.”
She believes that opening up opportunities in these new areas would attract more fans, which in turn would lead to increased revenue. Furthermore, Coventry sees AI as a tool to provide African athletes with better access to training resources, nutritionists, and doctors.
As the only woman running for the IOC presidency, Coventry plans to support female athletes, particularly in addressing sensitive issues such as gender-based violence. She also aims to build on initiatives like dedicated rooms for nursing mothers at the Olympics. In an interview with BBC Sport Africa, she said,
“I want to show people and women across Africa and the world: ‘Don’t be afraid of anything.’ If you believe in something and know you can lead an organization, don’t be too scared to put your hand up and do it. It’s time for women in Africa to stand up and lead, to not be afraid of leading, and to not be afraid of leading in a different way.”
Coventry also emphasized her expectations for media rights holders, particularly around global streaming access. She pointed out that NFL games were streamed on Netflix for the first time over Christmas Day, and she wants to explore similar opportunities for the IOC.
“What does that look like for us? That is going to be very important as we move into the future. I believe that if we can open up opportunities in these new areas, we create more fans, which should in turn bring new revenue opportunities,” she added.
In addition, Coventry aims to tackle the issue of transgender athletes in women’s sports. The controversy surrounding Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who was disqualified from the World Championships for failing gender eligibility tests and later won a gold medal in women’s welterweight boxing at the Paris 2024 Olympics, has raised significant debate.
Coventry believes it’s the IOC’s duty to ensure equal opportunity and fairness within competitions, but based on the current medical and scientific research, she does not believe transgender women should compete in the female category at this time.
“It is very clear that transgender women are more able in the female category, and can take away opportunities that should be equal for women. If that changes and there’s new ways of doing things, then we’ll look at that.”
Lastly, Coventry opposes the practice of awarding prize money at the Olympics. She argued that funds would be better spent elsewhere as prize money benefits only top athletes.
“We have 10,500 athletes at the Summer Olympic Games and nearly 3,000 at a Winter Games. How do we impact them? How do we ensure that Olympians, or prospective Olympians and athletes from around the world get better access to sport, to training, to health and mental health [support]? Those are the programs that I would like to focus on.”
Six other candidates are running for the IOC presidency, and it remains to be seen whether Coventry will succeed in her bid.