New International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry is facing immediate calls to protect the women’s category after securing a landslide election win.
Double Olympic swimming champion Coventry was elected in the first round of voting on Thursday in Greece to become the first woman to lead the organisation.
The 41-year-old Zimbabwean sports minister earned 49 of the 97 votes cast, with Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch her closest challenger on 28.
Coventry was understood to have been the preferred candidate of outgoing president Thomas Bach, with the seven-time Olympic medallist fending off six rivals to secure the most powerful role in sport.
Britain’s Lord Sebastian Coe was among the contenders but polled just eight votes.
Coe had vowed to ‘protect the female category’ as one of his priorities if elected, with his pledge coming after the gender row over Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting’s gold medals in the women’s Olympic boxing event at Paris 2024.
Newly-elected IOC president Kirsty Coventry has been urged to protect women’s sport
Olympic medallist Sharron Davies called on Coventry to fufill her pre-election promise
Britain’s Seb Coe had made protecting women’s sport a key part of his unsuccessful campaign
Both have insisted they were born female and neither has ever identified otherwise, but were disqualified from the World Boxing Championship in 2023 for allegedly for failing a gender test.
Britain’s Sharron Davies, an Olympic silver medallist as Moscow 1980, has urged her fellow swimmer Coventry to follow Coe’s stance in protecting the women’s category following his election.
‘Sad to hear Seb Coe was not elected as IOC president,’ Davies wrote on X. I don’t think IOC are ready for change or transparency.
‘Seb would have 100% put the athletes first before IOC members allowances & hospitality. Hopefully Kirsty will do as she said before the election & protect women’s sport & we also won’t have the shambles of Paris again where male DSD athletes were allowed to punch females in the face. Pure negligence
‘Sadly for me Kirsty Coventry has been on the athletes commission for ten years & not spoken up before to protect female athletes coming behind her. But fingers crossed.’
Coventry had pledged in the build-up to the election to protect female athletes, with the 41-year-old stating it would be a ‘priority’.
‘Protecting the female category and female sports is paramount – it’s a priority that we collectively come together,’ Coventry said earlier this year.
‘There is more and more scientific research. We are not having a conversation about how it is detrimental to men’s sport.
Davies expressed concerns after claiming Coventry had failed to speak up for women’s sport
Her call came after Imane Khelif (pictured) and Lin Yu-ting won boxing gold at Paris 2024
The two fighters (Li pictured) were caught in a gender row, having been disqualified from the World Boxing Champions in 2023 due to ‘failing a gender test’
Khelif insisted she was ‘born a woman’ and has ‘lived as a woman’ after winning the title
‘That, in itself, says we need to protect women’s sport. 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.’
Coventry, however, had been part of the executive board at the Paris Olympics, where Lin and Khelif won gold.
When questioned about their participation, Coventry claimed lessons would have to be learned.
‘I don’t believe this is something in hindsight we could have predicted, these boxers had bouts against each other and there hadn’t been previous issues,’ she added.
‘When you have such a sensitive issue being put on the global stage you have to make sure that the athletes are being protected – that their rights are being heard – and that they are being protected on both sides.’
Following her election victory on Thursday, Coventry was pressed further on her stance.
‘My stance is we will protect the female category and female athletes,’ she said.
‘I want to work together with the international federations and I want the IOC to take up more of a leading role.
‘We are going to bring everyone together to sit down and have a bit more input in the discussion.’
Coventry was elected in a first round landslide at the IOC Session in Greece on Thursday
Coventry was widely viewed as the preferred choice of outgoing president Thomas Bach, right
Coventry was widely viewed as the preferred choice of Bach and her victory will lead to dismay among those who had hoped for reform to a much-criticised body.
Indeed, there had been widespread reports that Bach, who has been in place since 2013, had been lobbying members to casts their votes for Coventry.
Coventry ran on a platform of ‘zero tolerance for corruption… and unethical behaviour’.
Coe was widely-viewed as a more serious reformer and his defeat will disappoint those who were seeking change.
During his time as head of World Athletics, he has overseen the introduction of a robust anti-doping programme, has banned Russian athletes and introduced regulation on the involvement of DSD (difference in Sexual development) and transgender athletes in female categories.
Around 100 IOC members, including the likes of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the Emir of Qatar and princesses from Liechtenstein and Saudi Arabia, voted at the five-star Westin hotel on the south coast of the Greek mainland.
Also in the race were Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient and Morinari Watanabe.
Coe will now return to his role as president of World Athletics, which he has held until 2015.
Coventry will take office on June 23.
