Have a look at the bio, husband and education of Kirsty Coventry
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has elected Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe as its tenth president, becoming the organization’s first female head.
The election of Kirsty Coventry was held at Costa Navarino, Greece, during the 144th IOC Session. HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, David Lappartient, Johan Eliasch, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Lord Sebastian Coe, and Morinari Watanabe were among the other presidential contenders who were passed over in favour of Coventry.
Who is Kirsty Leigh Coventry, new IOC President, biography, age, family, husband, education, Olympic medals, salary and net worth
The elections results are in!
Kirsty Coventry (@KirstyCoventry) elected IOC President, the first female President in IOC history. pic.twitter.com/T3AAvQkC8B— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) March 20, 2025
The ninth IOC President, Thomas Bach, will be replaced by Kirsty Coventry, a double Olympian swimmer, after his 12-year term ends on June 23. For an eight-year term, the President is chosen by the IOC members by a secret ballot. Additionally, Coventry’s election makes her the youngest president in IOC history.
Coventry won after just the first round of voting, securing 49 of the 97 possible votes and Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior won 28, while World Athletics chief Sebastian Coe earned eight votes.
41-year-old Kirsty Coventry was born in Harare on 16 September 1983. She is 1.76m tall.
Education
Primary:
Secondary: part of her studies at Dominican Convent High School.
Tertiary: Bachelor of Human Science Hotel and Restaurant Management, Auburn University in Alabama on a full scholarship.
She studied and competed in swimming for Auburn University in Alabama, USA. Coventry assisted in leading Auburn University’s Tigers to the 2003 and 2004 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships while he was a student there.
She won three individual titles in 2005, including the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley (IM) and the 200-yard backstroke for the second straight year. She was also the top individual scorer at the NCAA Championships.
Tyrone Seward, Coventry’s manager since 2010, married her on August 10, 2013. She gave birth to their first kid in May 2019 with her second child born in 2024.
She has two daughters, one six year old and one born six months ago.
Kirsty Coventry career
Kirsty Coventry is the first female and first African person to be elected President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was appointed as the country’s Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in September 2018.
One of the world’s top backstroke and medley swimmers, she won three medals at the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, including a gold in the women’s 200m backstroke, a silver in the 100m backstroke, and a bronze in the 200m medley and she defended the 200m backstroke title at Beijing 2008 and also added three silver medals to her tally.
She won three long course world titles, winning the 100m and 200m backstroke in 2005, and her specialty event, the 200m backstroke, in 2009. She also won four short course gold medals at the 2008 FINA World Swimming Championships (25m).
In both 2004 and 2008, Kirsty Coventry won the 200-meter backstroke at the Olympics. After winning seven Olympic medals, more than any other African swimmer, she announced her retirement from swimming following the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
2004 Olympic games- Athens, Greece
Gold 200m backstroke
Silver
Bronze
2008 Olympic games- Beijing, China
Gold 200m backstroke
Silver 400m Individual Medley
Silver 100m backstroke
Silver 200m Individual Medley.
2011 All-Africa Games – Maputo, Mozambique
Gold in the 200 m IM (2:13.70)
Gold in the 400 m IM (4:44.34)
Gold in the 100 m backstroke (1:00.86 CR)
Gold in the 200 m backstroke (2:12.40)
Silver in the 100 m butterfly (1:02.20)
Silver in the 4×100 m medley (4:24.01)
Silver in the 4×100 m freestyle (3:57.81)
Silver in the 4×200 m freestyle
2015 All-Africa Games- Congo Brazzaville
In 2013, about a year after the initial outcome of an athlete election at the London Olympics was overturned, partly due to her filing a protest against an opponent, she was already a member of the IOC.
Coventry was exonerated of allegations that former President Robert Mugabe’s nephew, Robert Zhuwao, had misallocated acreage to her after it was disclosed in court that Zhuwao had abandoned his unrelated subdivision and that she had been given a totally separate subdivision of the farm in question.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa of Zimbabwe reappointed Kirsty Coventry as Minister of Sports, Art, and Recreation in September 2023. Her net worth stands at $5 million with her set to earn a substantial amount in salary as the new IOC President. Bach was given a salary which amounted to €275,000 ($306,000) in 2023, according to the most recent IOC annual report.
Kirsty Coventry delivers her acceptance speech after being elected as the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee, and the first female President in IOC history. pic.twitter.com/3BXf9kK0dI
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) March 20, 2025