Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. (More Sports News)
바카라It is a signal that we are truly global,바카라 the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist said.
Hers was a stunning first-round win in the seven-candidate contest after voting by 97 IOC members.
She gets an eight-year mandate into 2033 aged just 41 바카라 youthful by the historical standards of the IOC.
It was the most open and hard-to-call IOC presidential election in decades with Coventry expected to lead the first round short of an absolute majority. Though several rounds of votes were widely predicted, she got the exact majority of 49 needed.
Coventry바카라s win also was a victory for outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach, who has long been seen as promoting her as his successor. He did not use his right to vote.
바카라I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken,바카라 Coventry said in her acceptance speech. 바카라Now we have got some work together.바카라
Walking to the podium, she was congratulated and kissed on both cheeks by Juan Antonio Samaranch, her expected closest rival who got 28 votes.
Also in the race were four presidents of sports governing bodies: Track and field바카라s Sebastian Coe, skiing바카라s Johan Eliasch, cycling바카라s David Lappartient, and gymnastics바카라 Morinari Watanabe. Also contending was Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan.
Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach on June 23 바카라 officially Olympic Day 바카라 as the 10th IOC president in its 131-year history. Bach reached the maximum 12 years in office.
Key challenges for the 41-year-old Auburn University graduate will be steering the Olympic movement through political and sporting issues toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, including engaging in diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Coventry바카라s IOC will also need to find a host for the 2036 Summer Games which could go to India or the Middle East.
The strongest candidates in a five-month campaign with tightly controlled rules drafted by the Bach-led IOC seemed to be Coventry 바카라 who gave birth to her second child 바카라 IOC vice president Samaranch and Coe.
Coventry바카라s manifesto offered mostly continuity from Bach with little new detail, while her rivals had specifics to benefit Olympic athletes, which she was as recently as 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
Samaranch tried to follow his father, also Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the IOC바카라s seventh president from 1980 to 2001.
Coe aimed to add to a remarkable career of Olympic triumphs: A two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 meters, he led a bidding team for the 2012 London Olympics, then worked for the next seven years to head the organizing team of those widely praised Games. He got just eight votes.
It has been a stellar week for Bach, who greeted Coventry and shared warm smiles after her acceptance speech.
Bach was feted on Wednesday in an emotional start to the IOC annual meeting, getting lavish praise and the title of honorary president for life. He repeated his wish to offer advice to the next president.
His hands-on executive-style presidency will deliver over a financially secure IOC, on track to earn more than $8 billion in revenue through the 2028 LA Olympics, and with a slate of future hosts through 2034: in Italy, the United States, France, Australia and finally the U.S. again, when the Winter Games return to Salt Lake City.
A signature Bach policy also has been gender parity, with equal quotas of men and women athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and giving a better balance of female members of the IOC and the executive board he chairs, which now has seven women among its 15 members, including Coventry.
Her win on Thursday will only add to Bach바카라s legacy for promoting women.
Coventry won back-to-back titles in 200-meters backstroke at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Beijing four years later.
She joined the IOC in 2013, almost one year after a disputed athlete election at the London Olympics. Her place among the four athletes elected was eventually awarded after Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings against two opponents.
The next president can oversee the IOC making a statement choice for its host for the 2036 Summer Games.
바카라There is one and one only,바카라 Samaranch said on Wednesday when asked about challenges ahead. 바카라We must concentrate (on) successful and relevant Olympic Games. The rest comes with success in the Games.바카라
The voters in the exclusive invited club of IOC members include royal family members, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes. Even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh.
Members voted without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that swung on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.
