28 March 2025 – Kirsty Coventry was 9 years old when she first glimpsed the global sporting event that would change her life and secure her place in history. At home in Harare, Zimbabwe, the young girl was captivated by the television footage of the Olympic Games in Barcelona in 1992. Images of the picturesque swimming venue and stunning backdrops of the Spanish city inspired Coventry on a journey to a glittering Olympic swimming career and, eventually, the top leadership role in world sport.

“Something about Barcelona just caught my eye. I said to my parents, ‘I want to go to the Olympic Games one day and win Zimbabwe a gold medal.’ They just smiled and said, ‘OK, well it’s going to take a lot of hard work and sacrifice.”

Kirsty Coventry, IOC President Elect

As it turned out, Coventry went on to compete in five Olympic Games, winning seven medals, including two gold, making her Africa’s most decorated Olympian. But it was out of the pool where she made the biggest splash of all. On 20 March 2025, Coventry was elected the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee at the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece. At the age of 41, she became the first woman and first African chosen to lead the 131-year-old organisation.

“This is an extraordinary moment,” Coventry said after the result was announced by outgoing IOC President Thomas Bach. “As a 9-year-old girl I never thought that I would be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.”

Since its founding in 1894, the IOC had been headed by nine men – eight Europeans and one American. Coventry, only the second woman ever to run for the post, prevailed over six other candidates in the first round with 49 out of 97 votes. “It is a really powerful signal we are truly global and evolved into an organisation open to diversity,” she said.

Born on 16 September 1983 in Harare, Coventry learned to swim at age 2, taught by her mother and grandfather. She joined her first swimming club at 6 and quickly developed a competitive streak. Without indoor pools, she played other sports in winter, including field hockey, cross-country, and tennis, but swimming remained her passion.

“Swimming was my safe haven,” she said. “I did fine at school but was never an A student. In the pool, I was able to find who I was.” A hockey injury at 14 convinced Coventry to focus solely on swimming. As a 16-year-old high schooler, she qualified for the Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. “It was a little bit daunting coming all the way from Zimbabwe and walking onto that pool deck,” she said.

Though she didn’t win a medal in Sydney, Coventry became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach an Olympic semifinal. Her fondest memory, though, wasn’t in the pool but in the Olympic Village, where she met Muhammad Ali as he was being mobbed by star-struck athletes. “That moment lit something inside me,” she said.

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Coventry’s big breakthrough came four years later in Athens, where she won three medals, including Zimbabwe’s first individual Olympic gold in the 200m backstroke. “Standing on the podium was quite surreal,” she said. “I was thinking back to when I was 9 years old. I was now nearly 21 and realised I had finally achieved my goal and my dream.”

Returning to Zimbabwe, she was met with a rapturous hero’s welcome, a powerful symbol at a time when the country was torn by internal strife. “Zimbabweans came out to thank me and say, ‘We’re so proud.’ It showed me how powerful sport can be to break down barriers and bring people together.”

It was a memory that shaped Coventry’s IOC presidential campaign, a message she shared in her presentation to members in January. “The transformative power of sport – that’s not just something I’ve said, but I’ve actually lived it and seen it. And I believe in it,” she said.

“At a time when our world is so divided, the Olympic Movement can help bridge gaps, build back trust and showcase the best of humanity.”

Kirsty Coventry, IOC President Elect

Coventry picked up four more medals at Beijing 2008, including another gold in the 200m backstroke and three silvers. She competed in London 2012 and Rio 2016 before retiring with seven career Olympic medals, the most by an African athlete.

A key factor in Coventry’s success was an Olympic Solidarity scholarship. She left Harare at age 17 to attend Auburn University in Alabama (USA), where she led the “Tigers” swim team to three NCAA championships in 2002, 2003 and 2004. She graduated from Auburn in 2006 with a degree in hotel and restaurant management. “Going to Auburn played a huge role in my life in giving me a platform,” Coventry said. “My teammates are friends and family for life.”

Coventry joined the IOC in 2013 as an athlete member. She chaired the Athletes’ Commission and served on the Executive Board from 2018 to 2021. She was elected an individual member in 2023.

Meanwhile, she dedicated herself to giving back to her community in Zimbabwe. She founded the Kirsty Coventry Academy to teach children how to swim and, alongside her husband Tyrone Seward, created the HEROES programme to provide a safe sports environment for kids aged 6-13. In 2018, Coventry was appointed Zimbabwe’s Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, where she worked on legislation to combat match-fixing, abuse and sexual harassment in sports.

All the while, she embraced family life. She and Seward married in 2010 and welcomed their first daughter in 2019. Their second daughter was born in 2024 during her IOC presidential campaign.

“My youngest has fit right in,” Coventry said. “She has travelled with me since she was four weeks old. Being with my husband and daughters is where I find my down time.”

Fittingly, Coventry’s family was present in Greece for her election as IOC President. Among the first to congratulate her was her 5-year-old daughter. “My little girl ran up and said, ‘Mom you won!’”

Balancing motherhood with the IOC presidency is a challenge that Coventry welcomes. “I want my daughters to grow up knowing that they can be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to achieve,” she said.

Just like their mother.