Coventry's rise as IOC's first woman president: A giant leap for womankind

Kirsty Coventry calls Greece her “good luck charm”. At the 2004 Athens Olympics, she became the first Zimbabwean to clinch gold in swimming.

 

On March 21, at Costa Navarino, an idyllic Greek beachside resort town, Coventry smashed the glass ceiling of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be elected the first woman and the first African president in the federation’s 130-year history. 

Hours after her ascension, Coventry, 41, found herself facing inquisitive reporters, who probed her on how she would handle US President Donald Trump in her new role. 

“I have been dealing with difficult men in high positions since I was 20 years old,” she replied without batting an eyelid. The Zimbabwean Olympic champion replaces Thomas Bach to secure the most coveted post in sports administration.

“It is really a powerful signal,” Coventry beamed after the win. “It is a signal that we’re truly global and that we have evolved into an organisation that is open to diversity,” she told reporters. 

Youngest IOC head 

To elucidate the significance of this epochal moment: Coventry was pitted against rivals, all men. And, she is only the second woman ever to stand for the IOC presidency, and the youngest to clinch the position. 

“It is truly a massive moment. It shows that there is space for women at the top of the tree,” veteran sports journalist Sharda Ugra said. 

What makes Coventry’s rise even more spectacular is that she has age on her side. “She is much younger than some of her predecessors like Bach. It means she will have a fresh approach on how to handle complex tasks,” Ugra explained. 

Shaji Prabhakaran, executive committee member of Asian Football Confederation and South Asian Football Federation, was of the view that Coventry has come at the right time to lead the Olympic movement. “There is huge traction for women in sports across the world. Hailing from Africa, she will take sports to those corners where it has remained marginalised.” 

For decades, sports federations were governed by men, many of whom morphed these organisations into fiefdoms.  Concurrently, women continued to be overlooked for leadership positions at international sporting organisations. 

The gradual rise 

Anita Defrantz was the first woman on the IOC board in 1992. 

More than three decades later, only four international sporting federations have women heads. 

They are Annika Sörenstam, who is the president of the International Golf Federation, and Petra Sorling, the president of the International Table Tennis Federation. 

Two other women — Zena Wooldridge and Regula Meier — helm the squash and ski mountaineering federations, respectively.

At the apex of this pyramid stands Coventry, who is now the most powerful personality in the sporting world, considering that the IOC has 206 affiliated members, more than even the United Nations. 

In India, PT Usha is one of the few women rangers in sports administration, heading the Indian Olympic Association since December 2022. Raj Laxmi Singh Deo has been the president of the Rowing Federation of India since 2012, while Vidya Stokes was elected the Hockey India president in 2010, at the age of 83. 

Diana Edulji, the former captain of India’s women’s cricket team, served as a member of the Committee of Administrators (CoA), appointed by the Supreme Court in 2016 to oversee the operations of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. “Diana deserves credit for being the only cricketer to join the CoA,” Urga said. 

Star athlete Ashwini Nachappa 

faced stiff resistance when she was elected president of the Karnataka Athletics Association. 

According to a Sport Integrity Global Alliance survey in 2024, cited in a UN report, women held around 29 per cent of executive positions in global sports federations. It is an arduous rise from 18 per cent in 2019. 

The worst performer was FIFA, the home of football across the globe, which could muster only 13.5 per cent in female representation. 

The last bastion 

In 1997, the IOC set a target of achieving 10 per cent female representation by 2000. That goal was raised to 50 per cent in 2023. “Sport is the last bastion of male domination. Coventry has breached it… this will have a ripple effect,” Ugra noted.

Prabhakaran reckoned that mandating women’s participation is the only way to increase their participation in sports administration. 

“There should be at least 30 per cent female representation in an executive committee or board. Until that happens, you will see men continuing to dominate,” he added. 

Coventry’s stellar rise to the top of the podium could open the doors for more women in such prestigious roles. 

She takes charge at a precarious time, when conflicts, and Trump’s tariff volleys loom large on the horizon. Ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, there has been a clamour to protect the rights of women athletes at the Olympics, particularly in light of the participation of transgender athletes. 

 

“My stance is that we will protect the female category of athletes,” Coventry told reporters. “I want to work with international federations. We are going to do that by setting up a taskforce that will analyse everything.” 

Russia challenge 

Coventry also faces a monumental challenge regarding Russia’s participation in future Olympic Games. 

Under the previous regime, Russia was banned from the Olympics due to its invasion of Ukraine. Coventry has, however, expressed willingness to reassess this stance. 

She has opposed bans on countries involved in conflicts, and has asserted that her taskforce would deliberate on this issue, and more specifically discuss Russia’s potential return to the global sporting arena with the 2026 Winter Games. 

“Her biggest challenge will be how she deals with pushbacks,” Ugra said. 

Former Indian long jumper Anju Bobby George felt it was important to look at Coventry’s election outside of the prism of gender.

“What is important is how she goes about getting the job done as the IOC president,” George said. “In this regard, I think she will have an advantage because she has served as an IOC member since 2013. She knows the system inside out. It is a familiar terrain for her.” George predicted that Coventry would have a different perspective on handling issues. “That will be crucial, going forward.” 

It was the 1900 Paris Games when women were first allowed to compete in the Olympics. From that crucial foot in the door to being elected president, it has taken 125 long years. 

Perhaps Coventry’s rise to the top might pave the way for more women to enter the sports boardrooms, a space from where they are practically invisible. Her elevation might just be that penny-drop moment.