IOC presidential election LIVE: Ex-swimmer Kirsty Coventry beats Seb Coe as historic results revealed
Lord Coe was beaten to the presidency by Zimbabwean former swimmer Kirsty Coventry in a battle for the most powerful post in sport
Seb Coe lost his bid to become the most powerful figure in sport today as Zimbabwean former swimmer Kirsty Coventry swept to victory and succeeded Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC president holds dominion over the Olympic movement and acts as dealmaker and diplomat handling world leaders desperate for the dose of soft power that comes with hosting an Olympic Games.
Lord Coe was one of seven candidates on the ballot paper and he was among the frontrunners alongside Juan Antonio Samaranch – the son of the influential IOC president of the same name between 1980 and 2001 – and Coventry, who was bidding to become both the first woman and first African to lead the IOC.
The 109 members – a mix of royalty, billionaires, sports executives and Olympians from around the globe – gathered in the luxury Costa Navarino resort in Greece to cast secret votes. Coventry won an overall majority in the very first round, in a shock result that made history.
Follow the news and latest updates from the IOC presidential election below.
Official voting results are in
The results have now been published, and they reveal both how far Coventry was ahead of her rivals, and how she received exactly the 50 per cent + 1 votes required for victory.
Had she received just one fewer vote, the election would have gone to a second round. Though, given her dominant lead over the rest, she would have got over the line at some point.
Coventry won 49 votes of 97:
- Kirsty Coventry 49
- Juan Antonio Samaranch 28
- Lord Sebastian Coe 8
- David Lappartient 4
- Morinari Watanabe 4
- HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein 2
- Johan Eliasch 2
Kirsty Coventry wins IOC presidential election
Coventry has earned an eight-year term, with a possibly four-year renewal if the membership approve it. The IOC is all about longevity and stability, which is why there have only been nine presidents since 1984. Although some might argue there are dictatorish elements to the presidency that have led to some overstaying their welcome in the role.
Kirsty Coventry wins IOC presidential election
Coventry will formally take office in a ceremony at Olympic House on 23 June – Olympic Day.
Who is Kirsty Coventry?
Coventry is a former Zimbabwean swimmer who achieved stunning success in her career, and she remains the most decorated African Olympian of all time with eight medals.
At 41 she is significantly younger than most of her rival candidates in this election, and that relative youth combined with her role as chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission undoubtedly stood her in good stead to earn the votes of recently retired athletes like herself, of which there is an increasing pool among the IOC membership, like American sprinter Allyson Felix. All of the candidates cheered about “athlete empowerment” during their campaigns, but when it came from Coventry, the message carried real weight.
Coventry’s role as sports minister for controversial Zimbabwean president Emmerson Mnangagwa brought some criticism, but clearly it did not derail her campaign.
Her campaign pitch was largely a continuation of the Bach era, and the incumbent president’s private support for her candidacy caused also stirred some controversy, given he was meant to remain neutral.
New IOC president Kirsty Coventry speaks
"This is not just a huge honour, but it is a reminder of my commitment to every single one of you that I will lead this organisation with so much pride, and I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you’ve taken today.
“Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and now we’ve got some work together. This race was an incredible race and it made us better, made us a stronger movement. Thank you very much for this moment, and thank you very much for this honour."
Kirsty Coventry wins IOC presidency
Thomas Bach announces the result: Kirsty Coventry is the new IOC president!
She makes history as the first woman and the first African president of the IOC.
Election decided in first round
We are now heading back to the Costa Navarino Greece, where we are expected to get the election result very shortly.
Has Kirsty Coventry made history?
If Kirsty Coventry has indeed won this election at the first time of asking, she will mark a major shift from the IOC’s historical leadership.
There have been nine IOC presidents since its inception in 1984, and eight of those have been greying European men. The exception was ex-decathlete Avery Brundage, elected in 1952 (a greying American man).
Coventry would become the first woman and the first African president of the IOC.
Election decided in first round
We continue to wait for the result to be confirmed – it is expected to be announced by president Thomas Bach in around 15 minutes’ time.
If you’re just joining, there has been a shock in Greece today, with one of the seven candidates winning an outright majority in the very first round. We were expecting a number of rounds and a tight contest, but that is not the case, and now we wait to see who has won this election.
Election decided in first round
My immediate thought is that this could be good news for Kirsty Coventry. She was most likely to strike early given her core base of voters was already formed – women, African members and Bach loyalists (Bach has privately backed Coventry to be his successor).
By contrast, Seb Coe and Juan Antonio Samaranch were more likely to prosper in the later rounds, once the European voting bloc – split intially four ways between them, Eliasch and Lappartient – coalesced around one candidate as they were eliminated.
But in the murky world of the IOC, it is impossible to know how the cards have fallen here. We will have to wait and see...
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