By Chinasaokwu Helen Okoro
Newly elected International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry arrived Sunday in her home country of Zimbabwe to a hero’s welcome.
The southern African country has faced years of isolation and sanctions by the United States and other Western nations.
The 41-year-old Coventry, who is also Zimbabwe’s sports minister, was the only female candidate in the IOC presidency race and became the first woman and first African to be elected head of the global Olympic movement.
She beat six other candidates in the vote in Greece on Thursday, including the head of world track and field, the head of international cycling and a member of Jordan’s royal family. “It’s not just my success, it is our success. We broke down barriers,” Coventry said in Zimbabwe.
Dancers in animal fur kilts and head gear stomped the ground as part of a traditional African folklore dance to the sound of trumpets and drums to welcome Coventry home in Harare. Dozens of others, including female cricketers, young karatekas and children in school uniform cheered loudly. “This is not just a personal victory, it will put Zimbabwe on the global stage,” said Women Affairs Minister Monica Mutsvangwa at a welcoming ceremony.
Coventry is an ex-Zimbabwe swimmer and was the back-to-back Olympic champion in the 200 meters backstroke at the 2004 and 2006 Games.
She retired from swimming after the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 with seven Olympic medals and is the most decorated Olympian from Africa.
Coventry was widely praised in her country as a source of pride and a unifying figure during her swimming career.Her decision to take the job of sports minister in 2018 has been scrutinized, though, given the Zimbabwean government has long been questioned over its human rights record and is regularly accused of clamping down on political opposition.
Critics in 2020 also accused Coventry of benefitting from political patronage after accepting a government lease on a farm that was seized during the country’s often violent land reforms that evicted about 4,000 white farmers for tens of thousands of Blacks more than two decades ago. Many of those critics have welcomed her election and posted congratulatory messages.
Coventry has said she will resign from her Zimbabwe minister’s job to move to the Olympic home city of Lausanne in Switzerland. Her eight-year term in charge of the IOC begins in June.
Pressing issues at the Olympic body include athletes’ benefits, Russia’s future after its suspension over the war in Ukraine, gender eligibility, and how to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump with Los Angeles set to host the next Summer Olympics in 2028.
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