She may have just been elected, but Kirsty Coventry already has no time to lose. Voted in on Thursday, March 20, as the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Zimbabwean former athlete and minister, the first woman president in the institution's history, met with her outgoing predecessor, Germany's Thomas Bach, the following day. They spoke over breakfast at the luxurious resort of Costa Navarino, in Greece, which was the venue of the 144th IOC Session. The aim was to prepare for the three-month transition period, before the official handover between the two leaders, scheduled for June 23. Indeed, there was no shortage of hot topics for the president-elect to get to grips with.
Coventry's agenda is likely to be dominated by geopolitics. The Russians athletes' possible participation in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games, set for February 2026, is one of the urgent issues she will have to make a decision on. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has already reminded her of this with his message of "sincere congratulations," on Thursday. This message was echoed by his sports minister, Mikhail Degtiarev, who expected "that in the era of the new leader, the Olympic movement will become stronger, more independent and prosperous, and Russia will return to the Olympic podium." The message couldn't be more explicit. Yet, currently, only a peace deal with Ukraine could change the IOC's position on the matter.
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