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ZIMBABWEANS received some exciting news on Monday when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that our Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Minister Kirsty Coventry had been short-listed among the seven candidates vying for the global sports movement’s presidency.

The IOC Session, basically the Olympic body’s congress will in March next year converge in Athens in Greece to choose a successor to Briton Thomas Bach, who decided against going for a third term.

Naturally having one of your own in any international race is bound to be exciting and similarly Coventry lining up against six other contestants, all male has added the excitement especially among the country’s sporting fraternity.

Coventry will battle it out against Briton and World Athletics (WA) president Sebastien Coe, Juan Antonio Samaranch of Spain, Prince Feisal Al Hussein of Jordan, David Lapparient of France, Morinari Watanabe of Japan and Johan Eliasch also of Great Britain in that election.

That she is the only woman in the race does not make her any lesser of a competitor.

In fact, she is a dark horse in that tough race where her more than decade years of experience in the IOC administrative corridors puts her in good stead to be handed the mantle to steer the movement to the next level.

Coventry is contesting for the IOC presidency in an exciting era for the Olympic body, which as we reported in this publication yesterday has seen a significant growth towards gender equity with this year’s Olympics in Paris, France being the first where there was 50-50 representation of men and women in the multi-disciplinary competitions

There has also been an exponential growth in women member at IOC which has now risen to 40 percent.

This if elected in March, Coventry would have become the first woman president of the IOC, representing a milestone for both the movement and its female membership.

The election in March is not just about Zimbabwe and about Coventry being Zimbabwean.

It is a poll for Africa and for the global perspective of the IOC.

Having evolved from being an athlete to an administrator Coventry is better-placed to articulate the IOC dynamics from all angles.

That she was born and raised in Zimbabwe, went on to stay in the United States for her education after securing a scholarship and then returning to serve her country at the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee (ZOC) and then in Cabinet is a rare feat from which the IOC can only benefit.

The strong possibility that her election to the presidency would also make her the first African to assume the throne means that the poll in March is not about Zimbabwe but for the African continent which must make its vast numbers at IOC count.

Coventry has had the privilege of experiencing Olympic life in a developing country like Zimbabwe and from the perspective of a developed nation like the United States.

That experience of both sides of the coin gives her an edge in understanding the challenges, especially those related to funding and material resources that National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in the developing world face.

Her vast experience from staying in the United States and competing along the global superstars at several meets and on the Olympics stage also gave her front row appreciation of what the movement needs to do to strike a balance between the two worlds.

The IOC can only be stronger with a united front of its members and Zimbabwe and Africa need to take pride in and to take a leading role in supporting Coventry’s candidature.

That support is especially more significant during her campaign trail in the months between now and March as Coventry seeks to convince the world that she is the best of the seven candidates.

There should also be room and understanding that in any competition, there will be winners and losers for contesting all participants are winners and Zimbabwe is a winner by fielding a participant in the form of the country’s biggest sports personality.

We believe that Coventry’s storied success will continue as she goes for a fresh and yet bigger challenge.

It is not an insurmountable challenge and that the Minister herself is very confident about her chances bodes well for all who are behind her in this monumental bid.