Lozano - Saba:
Zimbabwean Kirsti Kovantry has officially received the chairmanship of the International Olympic Committee to succeed German Thomas Bach during a ceremony held at the committee’s headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne, yesterday evening, to become the tenth president in the history of the organizer.
Kovantry, who holds seven Olympic medals in swimming, won the presidency in the March elections after suddenly obtaining the required majority of 49 out of 97 in the first round of the International Olympic Committee membership elections between seven candidates for the presidential seat.
The International Olympic Committee, the highest sports body in the world, will lead for 8 years, with an expected focus on governance files and the development of sport in the least -representative areas.
During the symbolic ceremony, the "Golden Key" was delivered to the committee's headquarters from Thomas Bach to Coventry, in the presence of a number of members of the Executive Council and the National Committees.
Kovantry has been a member of the Olympic Committee since 2013, and has previously assumed the position of Minister of Sports in Zimbabwe, giving her an administrative background alongside her sports record.
"With all gratitude, confidence and happiness, I greeted the keys to the Olympic House to Mrs. Kerzi Kovantry, the tenth president of the International Olympic Committee," Bach said while handing over the symbolic golden key to the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee to Coventry.
Bach leaves the International Olympic Committee after 12 years in the position, but he will remain linked to him to take over the honorary presidency.
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