Kirsty Coventry elected IOC president and is first woman, first African to lead global Olympic body

COSTA NAVARINO, Greece — Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. IOC President Thomas Bach, right, greets Kirsty Coventry after she was announced as the new IOC President at the International Olympic Committee 144th session in Costa Navarino, western Greece, Thursday, March 20, 2025. Share Share Facebook Copy Link copied Print Email X LinkedIn Bluesky Flipboard Pinterest Reddit Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach at a June 23 handover — officially Olympic Day — as the 10th IOC president in its 131-year history. Asked after Coventry won if he had intervened to campaign for her, Bach suggested in an election “don’t blame the voters, don’t blame the procedure.” His hands-on executive-style presidency will deliver over a financially secure IOC, on track to earn more than $8 billion in revenue through the 2028 LA Olympics, and with a slate of future hosts through 2034: in Italy, the United States, France, Australia and finally the U.S. again, when the Winter Games return to Salt Lake City.