At the International Olympic Committee, the new President Kirsty Coventry officially took over Thomas Bach on Monday. Some challenges are waiting for you.
At 11:30 a.m., a new era began at the International Olympic Committee on Monday morning. After twelve years, which the German President Thomas Bach was at the head of the umbrella organization of the world sports, he symbolically handed over the key to the highest office in the Olympic movement at a ceremony in Lausanne. The new president, Kirsty Coventrynow officially takes over the business and will have to prove negotiation skills right from the start.
It has been almost two months since Coventry at the 144th IOC session in a luxury resort on the coast of Greece in the first ballot reached the absolute majority of the votes. Despite the election campaign, which was sealed off and non -transparent for the public, was expected that Coventry would have a tight race with their sometimes better known opposite candidates. The fact that this did not happen was probably due to an alliance with Thomas Bach – Coventry in IOC circles again and again as his favorite.
Philip Raillon, Sportschau, June 23, 2025 9:44 a.m.
Olympionary with political experience
Coventry takes her new office with the experience of seven years in the Executive Committee, the highest organ in the IOC, where it acted rather inconspicuously. The ex-swimmer, which was eight-time in Athens 2004 and Beijing in 2008, is the most successful Olympium in the history of the Zimbabwe and also stood by the IOC athlete commission from 2013 to 2018.
Coventry received criticism in the run -up to her choice for her role as Minister of Sports by Zimbabwe, where she was part of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s cabinet. As the successor to the long -standing dictator Robert Mugabe, Mnangagwa is accused, among other things, by international election observers, and in the run -up to his re -election in 2023, restricted civil rights and thus influenced the election. At a press conference in March, Coventry defended her role: “I think you shouldn’t just make demands from the outside. I want to sit at the table and make changes.”
She now gets this chance from the IOC. On the outside, the association is more good than ever. The organization’s financial report presented on June 20 shows that in the term of office of Thomas Bach, the assets have grown to $ 6.1 billion- almost a doubling compared to his office in 2013. By 2036, all organizers for summer and winter games are also certain, according to the next issue, the next award will not be made before 2026.
Negotiations with Donald Trump
However, political questions are much more pressing for Coventry. The location in Los Angeles, which will host the summer games 2028, is tense. As soon as the devastating forest fires in spring, the city has become the central scene of the national protests against the hard immigration policy of US President in the past few weeks Donald Trump.
Trump had long had Los Angeles and other so -called “Sanctuary Cities“(Refuge) referred to because they refused to voluntarily arrest illegal immigrants. Finally, he sent the national guard soldiers to the city in order to contain the protests against the raids he caused against migrants.
With all of this, it was quickly possible to forget that Trump had campaigned for the Olympic Games in Los Angeles again and again. There is currently little to notice of this. There is a lack of financial support from Washington – it is urgently needed to make the city fit for the Olympics. In autumn 2024, an application was made for over three billion dollars subsidies for local transport and security, so far no funds have flowed.
To what extent Coventry can convey here, it will be shown. When asked about this, she shows herself relaxed: she is sure that Trump is interested in successful games. In the past, he had also referred to Los Angeles’ games as “America’s Olympic Games”. Observers suspect that he is also interested in their success as part of his personal legacy.
Clear regulations for DSD athletes
A positioning Coventry is expected in the discussion about athletes with deviations in gender development. In the victory of the boxer Imane Khelif at the 2024 Olympic Games, the discussion cooked as to whether athletes with increased testosterone values are allowed to continue to participate in women’s competitions. Ex-President Bach left the decision to the international associations.
ARD research show that the participation of the associations currently have significant differences. Some observers expect a testosterone upper limit to be introduced under Coventry to comply with athletes with medication – despite numerous, sometimes severely impaired side effects. Coventry recently assured that “Strengthen the women’s category” And want to go more pretending to go with the IOC.
New impulses to Russia?
Finally, the new president will also have to deal with athletes from war and crisis regions. The Russian athletes continue to pay particular attention. Ex-President Bach had therefore repeatedly put criticism, most recently before the Olympic Games of Paris 2024. Russian participants were allowed to start as “neutral” athletes, provided that they had no connection to the state or military. However, the test criteria remained non -transparent.
Coventry also achieved congratulations from the Russian President Vladimir Putin to their election victory. In addition to what a reintegration of Russian athletes could look like, the new IOC President has not yet said specifically. After her election, she said: “We have to make sure that we also protect athletes from crisis and conflict regions – especially in view of the increasing number of conflicts around the world.”
After a two-day meeting with the IOC Executive Committee this week, Coventry will answer first questions about your plans for the future of the IOC at a press conference.