New IOC president Kirsty Coventry inaugurated to start 8-year leadership

Graham Dunbar · The Associated Press

· Posted: Jun 23, 2025 8:53 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

The archetypal pistillate and archetypal African president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry was inaugurated successful the relation Monday connected the organization's 131st day with praise that the Olympic question was "in the champion of hands."

Coventry, a two-time Olympic golden medallist successful swimming for Zimbabwe, yet and formally takes bureau Tuesday aged conscionable 41 aft decisively winning a seven-candidate predetermination successful March to win Thomas Bach.

Coventry cited her household including her 2 young daughters arsenic "my rocks, my inspiration" to pb the International Olympic Committee done the adjacent 8 years including the 2028 Summer Games successful Los Angeles.

"You are my changeless reminders of wherefore we bash what we bash each azygous day," Coventry said, addressing six-year-old Ella seated adjacent the beforehand of the ceremony.

"You are a changeless reminder of wherefore this question is relevant, wherefore it needs to change, wherefore we request to clasp the caller ways," the caller president said. "And you volition beryllium a changeless reminder for galore years to travel connected the decisions that we each instrumentality together."

Coventry said Olympic leaders were "guardians of a level ... to inspire, to alteration lives, to bring hope."

Bach's dependable had cracked with emotion minutes earlier arsenic helium handed implicit a symbolic cardinal to the presidency to his protege successful Olympic politics.

The 71-year-old German lawyer, an Olympic champion successful squad fencing successful 1976, leaves aft the maximum 12 years successful an bureau helium said was present successful the "best of hands" with Coventry.

"I judge with each my bosom that the Olympic question is acceptable for the future," said Bach, adding helium had "given each I could" to the IOC and the games.

The ceremonial took spot successful a impermanent gathering successful the gardens of Olympic House designed successful the benignant of the Grand Palais successful Paris that hosted fencing and taekwondo astatine the Summer Games past year.

A steamy, humid time astatine the IOC's lakeside modern office saw a abrupt downpour of rainfall minutes earlier the scheduled start. It forced Bach and Coventry to structure nether a shared umbrella arsenic they walked from the villa that was the erstwhile Olympic home.

The hour-long ceremonial included a four-minute montage of tributes to Bach, who present becomes the IOC's honorary president. He has expressed a privation to counsel his successor.

Coventry's archetypal time astatine the bureau features a closed-door league to perceive the views of astir 100 IOC members. They see existent and erstwhile heads of state, concern leaders and billionaires, past and existent Olympic athletes, positive leaders of Olympic sports.