New Olympic president elected as Britain’s Lord Seb Coe discovers fate

A new president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been elected.Kirsty Coventry, the two-time Olympic gold medallist and Zimbabwe sports minister, has become the first woman and first African to be elected to the position, which is considered the most powerful job in world sport.Britain’s Lord Sebastian Coe lost out in the election he entered as an outsider.The peer went up against rivals more favoured by the IOC establishment and stood apart from the field with some of his policies – including a blanket ban on transgender women competing in women’s sports.Ms Coventry swept aside the competition, getting far more votes than anyone else.She won in the first round with the required 49 votes, while Juan Antonio Samaranch, in second place, got 28 votes, with Lord Coe picking up eight.Kirsty Coventry, the two-time gold medallist and Zimbabwe sports minister, claimed 49 votes in the first round to become the next boss of the International Olympic Committee. Her first games in charge will be the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and the Summer Olympics in LA in 2028.Speaking after her election victory, Ms Coventry said: “As a nine-year-old girl I never thought I would be standing up here one day, getting to give back to this incredible movement of ours.”This is not just a huge honour, but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you, that I will lead this organisation with so much pride, with the values at the core, and I will make all of you very very proud.”Thank you from the bottom of my heart and now we’ve got some work together.”Mr Samaranch congratulated her on her way to the podium to make her speech.The election almost entirely took place in the shadows in a Conclave-style process that gives the winner an eight-year mandate – with the option to run for four more.The vote was conducted in the luxury resort of Costa Navarino, in Greece, and confirmed the IOC’s 10th leader in its 131-year history.Voters in the exclusive club of IOC members include royal family members, former politicians and diplomats, business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes – even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh.Members voted without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that swung on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.Ms Coventry’s first games in charge will be the Winter Olympics in Milan in 2026 followed by the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in 2028.Among the issues she will have to deal with include navigating a smooth path between politics and sport in the 2028 US games opposite Donald Trump, and picking a host for the 2036 summer competition.