NEW IOC PRESIDENT ANNOUNCED

For the first time ever, an African has been elected to the position of president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Former Olympic swimmer Kirsty Coventry is currently Zimbabwe’s Sports Minister.

During the Paris 2024 games, Russian athletes were only allowed to compete as neutrals because Russia was banned from competing.

Coventry has said that only Russia is banned from competing because of the country’s war against Ukraine, while there are several wars ongoing in Africa, those countries can still participate.

The double Olympic medal winner said these inconsistencies will end when she takes over the leadership role.

The issue of gender-related competition is also something Coventry will be looking at.

“What I’d like to do again is bring the international federations together and sit down and try and come up with a collective way forward for all of us to move.”

Coventry pledged that IOC members will get more of a say after Paris (2024), Los Angeles (2028) and Brisbane (2034) were chosen as host cities thanks to behind-the-scenes deals under the former president, Thomas Bach.

“I think if we can embrace new regions across the entire movement, it opens this up for so many different opportunities, including revenue growth, including being able to reach new audiences.”

Image credit: World Curling