Sundaymail EditorKIRSTY COVENTRY was nine 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, the young girl was captivated by 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.
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 March 20 2025, Coventry was elected the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 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 nine-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 September 16, 1983 in Harare, Coventry learned to swim at the age of two, taught by her mother and grandfather.
She joined her first swimming club at six and quickly developed a competitive streak.
Without indoor pools, she got involved in 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 did not win a medal in Sydney, Coventry became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach an Olympic semi-final.
Her fondest memory, though, was not 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.
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 nine 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.
“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.
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 the age of 17 to attend Auburn University in Alabama (United States), 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 children aged six to 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 five-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.
— olympics.com
Online Reporter