Zimbabwe sports minister Kirsty Coventry is one of the seven leading candidates vying for the position of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency, Afrosport reports.
Coventry, a former Olympic swimmer, has won seven of Zimbabwe’s eight medals at the Games, and she is the only woman and African on the list of possible candidates.
The 41-year-old, looking to become the first woman and African to head the IOC, will have to contend against a stacked deck of competitors against her, with Lord Sebastian Coe, President of World Athletics and two-time Olympic 1500m champion, at the top of the list.
Others vying for the position include Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. (Spain), David Lappartient (France), Morinari Watanabe (Japan), Johan Eliasch (Sweden), and Prince Feisal al Hussein (Jordan).
The septet of sports executives are bidding to replace the outgoing Thomas Bach as IOC president after the German lawyer announced last month that he intends to step down from his role at the end of his second term, which ends in 2025.
Bach has been the head of the IOC since 2013, and after he departs his role next year, the new IOC president will be elected at a meeting in ancient Olympia, Greece, from March 18-21, 2025, with the new president expected to take over in June 2025.
According to reports, the candidates will make their presentations to the full IOC membership at a private meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, in January.
Of the seven candidates, only Coventry and Frenchman Lappartient would be able to serve the full eight-year tenure and possibly vie for a second term, as under current IOC rules, the age limit is set at 70 years.
All IOC presidents have been men, with eight of the nine from Europe and one from the United States.
Meet all the candidates
- Prince Feisal al Hussein: The 63-year-old Jordanian is a former wrestler and rally driver, as well as the president of the Jordan Olympic Committee.
- Lord Sebastian Coe: The 67-year-old World Athletics president is arguably the favourite on the list. The Brit, who is well-known for his days as a middle-distance runner, he became a Conservative MP before chairing the organising committee of London 2012 Olympics and headed British Olympic Association.
- Kirsty Coventry: The 41-year-old from Zimbabwe is Africa’s most decorated Olympian, who won seven medals at five Games. She is currently the minister of sport in her country and was an athlete representative on the IOC along with establishing her own swimming academy.
- Johan Eliasch: The 62-year-old Swede is the president of International Ski and Snowboard Federation and chairman of sports goods company Head.
- David Lappartient: At 51, France’s Lappartient is the president of cycling’s governing body Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) and president of the French Olympic Committee. He is chair of the IOC’s esports group.
- Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr: One of four current IOC vice presidents, the Spaniard, 64, oversaw the coordination commission for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. His late father was president of the IOC for 21 years until 2001.
- Morinari Watanabe: The 65-year-old Japanese is the president of International Gymnastics Federation since 2017. He was on the executive board of the organising committee for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
