President-elect Coventry is currently an IOC Member and the Minister of Sport, Art & Recreation in Zimbabwe. She has been the country’s Minister of Sport since 2018. Additionally, she served as a Vice President of the International Surfing Federation from 2017 to 2024.
The former swimmer was first elected as an IOC Member as a member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission in 2013 and served in that role until 2021, when she was elected as an individual member.
The President-elect was elected Chair of the IOC Athletes Commission in 2018, becoming a member of the IOC Executive Board in the process. The 41-year-old was also the IOC Athlete Representative on the World Anti-Doping Agency from 2012-2021 and a member of WADA’s Athlete Committee from 2014-2021.
A Harare native, President-elect Coventry competed at five different Olympic Games. Between her debut at Sydney 2000 and competing for the final time at Rio 2016, she won seven Olympic medals (two gold, four silver, one bronze), taking gold in the 200m backstroke at Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. No other African athlete has won more Olympic medals.
She also won three long-course World Championship gold medals and four short-course titles during her career, in addition to a Commonwealth Games gold and 14 African Games golds.
President-elect Coventry’s IOC Presidential election manifesto can be found here.
Credit: International Olympic Committee
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