Kirsty Coventry

2000 and 2004 Olympics

In 2000, while still in high school at the Dominican Convent in Harare, Coventry qualified for the Olympics in Sydney. She became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Olympics and was named the country's Sports Woman of the Year.^[14][15] In the games, she broke the Zimbabwean national record twice in the 100 metre backstroke event, and the African continental record in the 200 metre individual medley event; she did not qualify for the final in either event.^[16] She qualified for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, winning gold in the 200 metre individual medley event.^[17] She finished with a time of 2:14.53, a Commonwealth Games record.^[18]

Coventry qualified for her second Olympics, in 2004 in Athens, Greece. She won three medals, including a gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke event; where she broke an African continental record. Coventry won a silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke event. She finished behind the winner by 0.13 of a second, breaking an African record of 1:00.50.^[19] She claimed her bronze medal in the 200 metre individual medley event, breaking an African record of 2:12.72.^[20][21] Her three medals were the only medals won by Zimbabwe in the 2004 Summer Olympics, which was their second-highest medal count ever. Coventry also became the nation's first athlete in its history to claim an individual Olympic medal.^[4]

College career

As a student at Auburn University in Alabama, United States, Coventry helped lead the Tigers to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, she was the top individual scorer at the NCAA Championships and captured three individual titles including the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley (IM), and the 200-yard backstroke for the second consecutive season. She was named the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts.^[22] Other awards include 2005 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Swimmer of the Year, and the 2004–05 SEC Female Athlete of the Year. She was also the recipient of the 2004–05 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.^[23][24] In 2006, she graduated from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management.^[25]

2005 and 2007 World Aquatics Championships

At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, Coventry improved on her 2004 Olympic medal count by winning gold in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and silver in the 200 m and the 400 m IM. She bettered her Olympic gold-winning 200 m backstroke time with a performance of 2:08.52. She was one of just two swimmers from Zimbabwe along with Warren Paynter.^[26]

In Melbourne, Australia, at the 2007 World Championships, Coventry won silver medals in the 200 m backstroke and 200 m IM. She was disqualified in the 400 m IM when finishing second to eventual winner Katie Hoff in her heat. Coventry finished in a disappointing 14th place in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 1:01.73, failing to qualify for the final. She continued her good form of 2007 by winning four gold medals at the International Swim Meet in Narashino, Japan. She led the way in the 200 m and 400 m IM as well as the 100 m and 200 m backstroke.^[27] In the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, Coventry won seven gold and three silver medals.^[28]

2008 and 2009 seasons

In 2008, Coventry broke her first world record in the 200 m backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix. She bettered the mark set by Krisztina Egerszegi in August 1991, the second-oldest swimming world record. Her new record was 2:06:39. Coventry continued her winning streak at the meet by winning the 100 m backstroke and the 200 m IM. Coventry is the third woman in history to break the 1:00 minute barrier in the 100 m backstroke, and the second to break the 59-second barrier.^[29]

At the 2008 Manchester Short Course World Championships, Coventry broke her second world record, setting a time, whilst winning the gold medal, of 4:26:52 in the 400 m IM. The following day saw Coventry win her second gold medal of the championships in the 100 m backstroke. Her time of 57:10 was a new championship record and the second-fastest time in history in the event. Only Natalie Coughlin has swum faster (56:51). Day three of the championships saw Coventry break another championship record in qualifying fastest for the final of the 200 m backstroke. Her time of 2:03:69 was a mere four-tenths of a second outside the current world record set by Reiko Nakamura in Tokyo in 2008. Coventry then bettered this time to take her second world record of the championships by winning the final in a time of 2:00:91. She then went on to shatter the short course World Record in winning the 200 m individual medley in 2:06:13.^[30]

Coventry represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.^[31] Coventry won the silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley event on 10 August 2008, becoming the second woman to swim the medley in less than 4:30, the first being Stephanie Rice who won the gold in the same event. Coventry beat the world record by just under two seconds and was only just beaten by Rice to a new world record. Coventry, in the second semi-final of the 100 m backstroke event, set a new world record of 58.77 seconds. In the final of that event, she was beaten to the gold medal by Natalie Coughlin. Coventry was again beaten by Stephanie Rice in the 200 m individual medley, despite swimming under the former world record. Coventry did defend her Olympic title in the 200 m backstroke, winning gold in a world record time of 2:05.24. She was the country's flag bearer at the closing ceremony. She was the lone member of the delegation to medal, helping win Zimbabwe's most medals at the Olympics ever.^[32][33]

Awarded US$100,000 by President Mugabe for her success at the Olympics, Coventry gave that money to charity.^[34] At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, Coventry won a gold and a silver. She won the 200 m backstroke world title with a world record time and came second in the 400 m individual medley. She came fourth in the 200 m individual medley final and eighth in the 100 m backstroke final.^[35]

2012 and 2016 Olympics

Coventry qualified for her fourth Olympic Games in the 2012 Olympics in London, England. For the first time since 2000, Coventry did not win a medal. She finished third in her semifinal heat of the 200 m individual medley, just edging her into the final, where she placed 6th with a time of 2:11.13. In the 200 m backstroke, she finished outside medal contention in sixth place with a time of 2:08.18. She was given the honor of carrying the Zimbabwean flag into the opening ceremony for the first time.^[36] Previously, Coventry won four gold and four silver medals in the 2011 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.^[37]

Her fifth and final Olympic appearance came at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,^[38] where she repeated her 6th-place performance in the 200 metre backstroke from 2012, with a time of 2:08.80. She also finished 11th in the 100 metre backstroke. She retired after the 2016 Olympics, where she carried the Zimbabwean flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony for the second and final time.^[39][40] In her final African Games in 2015, in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, Coventry won three golds and one bronze medals.^[41]

2025 presidential election

On 20 March 2025 at the 144th IOC Session, Coventry became the first woman and the first African to be elected as president of the IOC.^[52][44][53] Coventry officially became president on 23 June, after incumbent Thomas Bach stepped down.^[52][54] She won the election on the first ballot against six other candidates (Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs, Sebastian Coe, David Lappartient, Morinari Watanabe, Johan Eliasch, and Prince Faisal bin Hussein), with 49 votes.^[55][56]

More information Election of the 10th IOC President ...

Election of the 10th IOC President[57]
Candidate	Results
Kirsty Coventry	49
Juan Antonio Samaranch Salisachs	28
Sebastian Coe	8
David Lappartient	4
Morinari Watanabe	4
Johan Eliasch	2
Prince Faisal bin Hussein	2

Close

Two weeks after her presidential election, Coventry was warmly received at the Olympic House in Lausanne by then-IOC president Bach, who handed her a bouquet of flowers, and Director General Christophe De Kepper, who took care of welcoming her, just before posing for a group photo with all those present.^[58][59]

Tenure

On 23 June 2025, Coventry was inaugurated as the president of the IOC, following her presidential handover to commemorate the founding of the first modern Olympic Games in 1894.^[60][61] Coventry said her vision is to restore the Olympics as a beacon of inclusivity and unity, ensuring that the Games are truly for everyone, regardless of their background or birthplace. Coventry said she plans to empower athletes and promote social equity to focus on feminism and gender equality.^[62][63] During her campaign for the IOC presidency, Coventry stated that she supported banning transgender women from competing in women's events, saying that "ensuring fairness in women's sport and maintaining the integrity of women's categories is essential".^{[64][65][66][67]} Her stance contrasted with recent IOC efforts to promote inclusivity and loosening contraints for transgender and intersex athletes' participation in Olympic sports.^[68] She has also stated her intent to "keep sport a neutral ground" when asked about the role of politics in sport.^[69] Following Coventry's election, she announced a review of issues facing the Olympics, including the Olympic host city bidding process. Details on host city election reform were partly announced at the 145th IOC Session in 2026, which included more transparency and a proposed "short-list stage".^[70]

During a press conference ahead of the Closing Ceremony of the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, Coventry declared that “maybe someone needs to be dismissed” from her team after she was blindsided by questions featuring topics she was not aware of.^[71]