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Petros Kausiyo

AFRICA’S most decorated Olympian Kirsty Coventry is bullish ahead of her battle to become the International Olympic Committee’s next president and believes it is time that the continent took leadership of the global sports movement.

Coventry is also seeking to become the first female president of the IOC.

Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture has had her country, the continent, and the global Olympic fraternity excited after tendering her bid to contest by the September 15 deadline which was officially accepted by the IOC the following day.

Coventry is now one of seven candidates seeking to be voted in as Thomas Bach’s successor when the IOC Session decides in a poll in Athens, Greece in March.

In her first media interview, since she announced plans to contest in the poll, Coventry told Zimpapers Sports Hub that she was feeling good about her chances and reckoned it would be an IOC election of firsts.

She is the only woman on the list of candidates that includes Briton 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.

“A lot of firsts are in store,’’ Coventry said, of her prospects and should the IOC Session vote her into office.

Bookmakers have installed her as a dark horse in the race but Coventry told Zimpapers Sports Hub, that she feels she has garnered enough experience and understanding of the IOC to be the movement’s next boss.

She also feels it was time that an African took over the presidency having served on the IOC’s Athletes Commission, which she also chaired before transitioning to become an Individual Member of the global body.

“I felt it was time for Africa now, time for a woman and just time in general.

“I think when you get to certain pathways in your career, you have to choose whether or not you are going to keep running the race, move forward or not.

“And for us, for me, for my family, for a lot of support that I have received from my African colleagues, from my IOC colleagues, everything felt like the time is now to throw my hat into the ring and again come back to being an athlete . . . that spirit of competitiveness and wanting to see where it will take us.’’

Woman leadership for IOC

Coventry said although the Olympic body had made strides in trying to ensure gender parity, having a woman president would be a landmark development should she assume the presidency.

“It will be a milestone!

“As a movement, we have been working very hard under the leadership of president Bach to ensure that we are reaching gender equality.

“Paris (Olympic Games) was the first where we had 50-50 men and women on the field of play.

“Within the IOC membership, our female membership is now over 40 percent so it has been growing’’.

She added that her belief that she can bring in a new dimension to the movement, inspired her decision to contest more than an aspect of gender.

“Someone asked me the other day whether I had thought about these firsts . . . first woman, first African and I said no, I just thought about where my career was taking me, the experiences that I had, and the value that I believe I can bring to the movement and continue adding to the movement and to serve the movement’’.

Coventry’s eight years on the Athletes Commission, also stand her in good stead to articulate issues around any sporting organisation’s most important constituency — the athletes and to lead the IOC into the next generation.

She acknowledged as much adding that being a Minister of Sport in the Government had also added huge experience on her part.

“So, I was a member of the Athletes Commission for eight years and then I was an Individual Member from 2021. So, for the last four years, I am an Individual Member.

“The Athletes Commission gives you such an incredible view of all the aspects of the Olympic movement because the athletes are at the heart of everything, of all the discussions whether it is from the finance commission to the entourage commission, the athletes are fully represented.

“So, as a Commission member and then chairing that Commission I got to see the entire complexity of the movement and what it looks like, some of the challenges that the IOC faces, getting to witness incredible athletes on the field of play so you have a range and a variety.

“And then stepping out of the Athletes role into the individual role and being able to use the experiences that I have learnt and the experiences that I have got from being a Minster of Sport in Zimbabwe in a developing country.

“I think those experiences have shaped me and I believe allowed me to have a different view when discussing many things,’’ she said.

Coventry also plans a massive campaign trail that will see her engage IOC members and get to understand their needs and expectations of the movement.

In all this, she believes the successes that have been part of her life in her sporting career, will fol-low her as she plunges into an area where it seems only the brave dare to tread — challenging a host of high-profile male administrators for a chance to lead the IOC.