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INTERNATIONAL Olympic Committee president-elect Kirsty Coventry wants dreams of young athletes to come true.
Coventry was speaking after her welcome to the Olympic House in Lausanne on Tuesday by outgoing IOC President Tomas Bach, IOC Director General Christophe De Kepper and IOC staff.
In her address, Coventry reflected on her past as a young athlete, explaining what her current position represents.
“Wow. This is going to be etched in my memory for a long time. I am incredibly humbled to be here. I think as a nine-year-old girl, I did not think I’d ever be standing here getting the opportunity to give back to this Movement and to work with all of you to make sure that other nine-year-olds realise their dreams,” she said.
On entering the building, the staff had started a long and resounding round of applause for the president-elect.
President Bach presented her with a bouquet of flowers. The entire staff joined the IOC president and president-elect for a group picture on the symbolic staircase of Olympic House.
“So I’m truly very excited about the next eight years and what that looks like for all of us. Part of my campaign was the Ubuntu philosophy of ‘I am because we are’, and that is very much going to be the foundation of everything we do.
“So I’m truly just grateful and honoured to be here and really looking forward to making other nine-year-olds’ dreams come true from around the world. So let’s do it.”
Coventry’s first visit to Olympic House as president-elect comes ahead of an IOC Executive Board meeting on Wednesday, 9 April. This is part of the three-month transition from president Bach to Coventry.
The former Zimbabwe Sports Minister, a double Olympic champion in swimming, was elected as the 10th President of the IOC, and the first female President in IOC history, at the 144th IOC Session that was held in Costa Navarino, Greece, on 20 March 2025.
Olympics.com\Sports Reporter
