NEW DELHI: Kirsty Coventry made historical past on Thursday by changing into the primary girl and the primary African to be elected president of the Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC), calling it an “extraordinary second.”
At 41, the two-time Olympic swimming champion can be the youngest individual ever elected to guide probably the most influential physique in sports activities governance.
She succeeds Thomas Bach, who steps down after 12 years, and emphasised her dedication to working alongside the six different high-profile candidates she defeated within the election.
“That is a unprecedented second. As a nine-year-old woman, I by no means thought that I might be standing up right here someday, getting to offer again to this unimaginable motion of ours,” Coventry stated.
“This isn’t simply an enormous honour, however it’s a reminder to each single considered one of you that I’ll lead this group with a lot satisfaction, with the values on the core, and I’ll make all of you very, very proud and, I hope, extraordinarily assured within the choice you have taken at this time.
“Thanks from the underside of my coronary heart.”
Coventry, broadly believed to be Bach’s most popular successor, was seen as a robust contender in a intently fought race in opposition to IOC veteran Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and World Athletics president Sebastian Coe.
Nevertheless, in a shocking final result, the competition was determined within the first spherical of voting, with a majority of the 100-plus IOC members inserting their belief in Coventry to navigate the numerous challenges forward.
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