Kirsty Coventry was elected on Thursday as the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee, becoming the first woman and the first African to hold the most powerful role in sports.
Ms. Coventry, 41, from Zimbabwe, was the only woman among the seven candidates in the monthslong election battle and will be the committee’s youngest president since its founder, Baron Pierre de Coubertin. As a swimmer, she holds seven of her country’s eight Olympic medals, including golds at the 2004 and 2008 Games.
The election, which has been described in similar language to a papal conclave, was settled — to gasps by onlookers — in the very first round of secret voting by the International Olympic Committee’s membership, an eclectic group that features not only sports leaders but also royals, business moguls and even Hollywood stars.