So it’s victory for Kirsty Coventry in the IOC elections. Who says cards with a rigged deck isn’t an Olympic sport?
The Zimbabwean has global sport’s top job but Britain’s Sebastian Coe was snubbed, and with good reason: he might have changed things
It is significant': Kirsty Coventry voted first female president of IOC
Congratulations to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on the surprise election of its new president, Kirsty Coventry, confirming its status as one of the few electorates on Earth never to have had a change election. Another one is Fifa, with those two organisations’ eternal contest to be the worst-run governing body remaining easily the hardest-fought rivalry in world sport.
Yes, the IOC has been in its 144th special session to elect a new leader. Don’t worry – it hasn’t been all hard beds, spartan canteens and bad lighting, as is inflicted on the poor old cardinals in Conclave. The three-day event inevitably took place at a five-star luxury Greek resort.
Much can and is being made of Coventry being the first woman and the first African to win the role with 49 votes, while much less, as usual, will be made of the opaque backroom politics that saw her blow rival candidates including the World Athletics president, Seb Coe, out of the water, with voting unexpectedly not even having had to proceed to multiple rounds. Coe finished third with only eight votes, a full 20 behind the second-placed Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. Quick primer: Juan’s the son of Juan Antonio Samaranch, himself a former IOC president, whose final act in the top job was to elevate his son to the committee. Very sporting. Juan Sr came via an impeccable IOC pedigree, of course, having previously served as a sports administrator under an actual fascist regime – in his case, that of General Franco in Spain. His tenure is notable for probably the worst corruption scandal in Olympic history. Or rather, let’s face it, the worst that we know about.
So close, Juan Jr! Alas, the IOC presidency going semi-hereditary might have been a bad look too far for the outgoing president, Thomas Bach. Either way, for whatever reason, Coventry’s candidacy was reportedly pushed hard in the very final stages by Bach and various other top IOC bigwigs. Bach has personally appointed more than two-thirds of the electorate, and was voted in as the still-powerful honorary president on the same day as Coventry’s victory. As the Olympic motto famously runs: citius, altius, status quo.
Needless to say, Bach wasn’t a fan of Coe’s criticism of the secretive election process. “There is a good democratic rule, when you don’t win,” he said. “Don’t blame the voters and don’t blame the procedure.” Hmm. Not sure quite how pristine a democracy a meticulously assembled band of royals, international businesspeople, politicians and select former athletes is, particularly the ones flown in from autocracies. But look, I hope they enjoyed this election, and at some point might even consider the idea of having free and fair ones in their own countries.
Zimbabwe, where Coventry is a sports minister, might be a case in point, with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s 2023 election victory characterised by brutal suppression of civil and political rights. Asked during her campaign how she could square her close ties with him, with even Fifa having banned Zimbabwe from international fixtures over government interference in the national game, Coventry explained: “It gets criticised, and that’s OK, because at the end of the day, I don’t think you can stand on the sidelines and scream for change. I believe you have to be seated at the table.”
In fact, that might have been the most opinion-adjacent opinion she voiced during the entire election, where her answers tended toward the radioactively inoffensive. Asked, for instance, how she’d bring something new, she replied: “Just the fact that I am running is a huge achievement. Now, we’ll see how the next few days unfold, but I’m looking forward to what comes next.”
Plenty more of that, which makes her pledge to protect the female category in sport with “a bit more of a leading role” one to watch. Pushed on this headline issue in the wake of her victory, Coventry explained: “We’re going to create a taskforce that’s going to look at the transgender issue and the protection of the female category.” What do we want? Taskforces to be created! When do want them? In due course!
Part of the IOC’s trouble with Coe, who ran on a platform stating that the IOC should ban transgender athletes in the female category in the interests of sporting fairness, is that he does things. His time at the helm of World Athletics saw him found a fully independent anti-doping and sporting integrity unit, rule decisively on the protection of the female category, and ban Russian athletes – the latter being something that seems to have earned him the permanent enmity of Bach. What’s a little light land invasion between friends – especially rich despotic friends? Remember: the IOC and Fifa need autocracies, with the massive financial outlay that any modern sporting mega event requires really only making sense politically for corrupt and autocratic regimes that wish to make a certain statement to the wider world. It’s why they’re having the next summer Olympics in the US. I’m joking, I’m joking.
Still, Coe’s decisive loss yet again confirms of the IOC that you can’t win as an outsider in an insider’s race. It’s not that he’s an unknown quantity, more that he’s a known quantity. They certainly can’t be risking a new broom, after all, just as they couldn’t risk looking too hard into a quite staggering array of vote-buying/bribery/corruption/doping/political/sportwashing scandals down the decades. Once you realise that the one thing sport’s biggest wigs really hate is a sporting chance, it all becomes so much easier to understand.
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Kirsty Coventry elected first-ever female IOC president as Seb Coe is beaten.
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Kirsty Coventry elected first female president of IOC as Coe routed in vote
Ex-Olympian Kirsty Coventry becomes first woman to be elected as IOC president
The Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry has become the first woman to lead the International Olympic Committee in its 131-year history after a stunning first-round knockout over a seven-strong field that included Britain’s Sebastian Coe.
In a contest that had been expected to go through multiple rounds of voting, the 41-year-old won 49 of the 97 votes in the first round, giving her an immediate majority. She is the first African to become IOC president and becomes the most powerful woman in global sport.
But it was a crushing day for Coe, who could only secure eight votes, putting him third behind the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr with 28.
Coventry’s victory came despite a manifesto that was widely seen as bland, and a campaign that started slowly. However, in the final few days before the secret ballot, strong lobbying from outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach and other senior IOC members proved to be crucial in tipping support her way.
Suddenly a contest that had been fought over in the shadows for months was all over in just two minutes: the time it took for the IOC’s quixotic membership of royals, former athletes, politicians and billionaires to throw their weight overwhelmingly behind the seven-time Olympic medallist.
It took a while for Bach to confirm the result – and the electronic voting machine of Afghanistan IOC member Samira Asghari appeared not to function. But when it was finally announced Coventry, who won seven Olympic medals in swimming including gold in the 200 metre backstroke at the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Games, was full of smiles.
“The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamt of this moment,” she said. “I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC president, and also the first from Africa. I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people.
“Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model. I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken. Now we have got some work together.”
Beforehand Coe was widely accepted to have the best CV, having won two Olympic gold medals, run the London 2012 Games and having been World Athletics president since 2015.
He had hoped to get votes by positioning himself as the change candidate, who would make the IOC more democratic and also protect women’s sport.
However, his strategy to get the backing of a majority of former athletes before winning a majority in the later rounds when other candidates dropped out was blown away.
“It’s very early to start poring over the numbers, but I think it’s pretty clear that the athletes, and in particular the female members, voted for her in very big numbers in the first round,” Coe admitted. “Clearly it’s a disappointing result, but that’s what happens when you go into an election.”
Not all candidates were as downbeat. Japan’s candidate Morinari Watanabe, the president of international gymnastics who came fourth with four votes, summed up his efforts succinctly afterwards. “Eight years gone in two minutes,” he said, smiling as he clapped his hands.
Coe’s chances were certainly hindered by becoming an implacable enemy of Bach when World Athletics banned all Russian athletes from the Rio 2016 Olympics for state sponsored doping.
But the stark reality is that there was probably little any candidate could have done given Bach’s power and influence over the organisation he has run since 2013, during which time he has appointed more than two-thirds of the electorate.
The 71-year-old German, who was voted in as honorary president on Wednesday, will continue to wield significant influence even if he denied having a direct involvement in Coventry’s victory afterwards. “There is a good democratic rule, when you don’t win,” he said. “Don’t blame the voters and don’t blame the procedure.”
But while many will rejoice at the first woman to lead the IOC, her election victory will be seen as controversial in some quarters.
Part of that is because Coventry is the sports minister of a Zimbabwean government that is subject to sanctions from Britain, which are “aimed at encouraging the Government of Zimbabwe to respect democratic principles and institutions and the rule of law”.
Human Rights Watch’s assessment of Zimbabwe reads: “In August 2023, President Emerson Mnangagwa was reelected in an election characterized by repression of civil and political rights. Southern African Development Community observers and others found that the election failed to meet regional and international standards for free and fair elections.
“Following the elections, abductions, arbitrary detention and torture of parliament members, opposition political activists, and human rights defenders escalated. Since then, the government has repeatedly targeted opposition members and activists, holding them in prolonged detention, mistreating them in custody, and weaponizing the judicial system against rights defenders.”
Coventry also received US$100,000 (about £55,000 at the time) in cash from Zimbabwe’s former president, Robert Mugabe, upon her return from the Beijing Games in 2008.
But for now Coventry, who will take over when Bach formally leaves office on June 23, having reached the maximum 12 years in office, is only looking forward.
“Sport has an unmatched power to unite, inspire and create opportunities for all, and I am committed to making sure we harness that power to its fullest,” she said in her victory speech. “The future of the Olympic movement is bright, and I can’t wait to get started.”
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Тихонов назвал "законченной мразью" кандидата в президенты МОК
… Четырехкратный олимпийский чемпион по биатлону Александр Тихонов в разговоре с РИА Новости назвал мразью кандидата на пост президента Международного олимпийского комитета (МОК) и главу Всемирной легкоатлетической ассоциации (World Athletics) Себастьяна Коу.
Выборы нового президента МОК пройдут 20 марта в рамках 144-й сессии организации в Греции. Действующий глава МОК Томас Бах отказался от участия в выборах.
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"Там все русофобы, за исключением Самаранча-младшего, он грамотный. Также есть надежда на Ватанабэ, но политика Японии далека от дружбы с нами. Они приезжают, когда что-то нужно. Не дай бог Коу станет президентом. Очевидно, что он законченная мразь. Мы надеемся на лучшее. Живем на самой богатой территории земного шара и все надеемся на лучшее", – сказал Тихонов.
Кандидатами на пост главы МОК, помимо Коу, являются президент Олимпийского комитета Иордании Фейсал ибн Хусейн, глава Международной федерации гимнастики (FIG) японец Моринари Ватанабэ, президент Олимпийского комитета Франции (CNOSF) и Международного союза велосипедистов (UCI) француз Давид Лаппартьен, двукратная олимпийская чемпионка по плаванию, член исполкома МОК зимбабвийка Кирсти Ковентри, глава Международной федерации лыжного спорта и сноуборда (FIS) швед Йохан Элиаш и вице-президент МОК испанец Хуан Антонио Самаранч - младший.
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SEB COE OLYMPICS - IOC PRESIDENT ELECTION.
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"The most powerful job in global sports" | Lord Coe's IOC (Olympic) Presidency manifesto explained.
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С интересом и понятными ожиданиями, Dimitriy.
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