aA seven-time SA Olympic swimming medalist, Kirsty Coventry knows one or two things about navigating the choppy ocean. However, the chairman of the new International Olympic Committee has faced the biggest challenges for global sports since the 1980s, when boycotts shook the games in Moscow and Los Angeles. What problems will she face as the 41-year-old prepares to take over from Thomas Bach in June?
Protecting women's sports
One of Coventry's important pledges was to protect female sports and athletes. On Friday, she noted that as Zimbabwean sports minister, she removed the Football Federation's board of directors after reporting that the female referee had been sexually harassed. She also spoke about the comprehensive ban on trans athletes in the women category.
“Protecting women's categories and female sports is paramount,” she says. “There's more and more scientific research. It's very clear that trans women are more capable in the women's category and can deprive women of equal opportunities.”
Coventry says he wants to set up a task force to address the best ways to protect women's sports, which have become globally controversial at the women's boxing tournament in Paris, where Iman Keliff and Lin Yu Tinting won gold.
In January she said she needed to learn lessons, but added that “it would need a little more sensitivity” for athletes who were reported as women at birth but who had different sexual developmental statuses that were subjected to male adolescents.
Return of Russia?
There is no clear path for the IOC to lift the suspension of Russian Olympic groups, but the four regional sports councils in eastern Ukraine are under Russian control. However, Coventry says she is against banning the country from the game and has pledged to set up another task force to see “some guide frameworks” when it comes to Russia.
As things stand, only a few Russians will compete as neutral athletes at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics 11 months later. But it's fascinating to see whether the return of Russia, Putin's favorite sport, is ice hockey, is part of a peace agreement in Ukraine.
What to do with Donald Trump
Coventry takes over as geopolitical uncertainty around the world increases and Trump threatens to ban people from certain countries from entering the United States. Casey Wasserman, chairman of the 2028 Los Angeles conference, said, “No matter what politics today, America will be accepted by all 209 countries for the Olympics,” but no one is sure what Trump will do next.
Coventry promised not to flinch. “I've been dealing with difficult men in high positions since I was 20,” she said when asked about Trump on Thursday. “We are not shaken from our values. We ensure that all athletes who qualify for solidarity and Olympic games will be in the Olympic Games and that they may be safe during the Olympic Games.”
Who will host the 2036 game?
The key issue for the IOC is finding hosts for the 2036 Olympics. This is being fought by India, Qatar, Türkiye and several other countries. One thing to watch is when Coventry sticks to Bach's policy of allowing “preferred bids” to be quickly tracked into exclusive negotiations.
If that happens, India is considered a favorite. Coventry is close to influential IOC member Nita Ambani, whose family is the wealthiest in Asia. Although there is no set timetable for the 2036 decision, Coventry suggests that IOC members will be more involved in the decision-making process.
climate crisis
The climate crisis not only threatens the traditional slots of summer matches in July and August, but also raises existential issues of the Winter Olympics. Coventry has given us more flexibility by pointing out how the Tokyo 2020 Marathon performed cool on the cardboard. Don't be surprised if the game will be held in India in 2036 and perhaps in Saudi Arabia in 2040.
“We have a huge amount of interest in the 2036 and 2040 games from the new region, and this is exciting,” she said. “It opens up the issue of timing in the game and needs to work actively about it both in the summer and winter.”
Please relate the Olympics
The Olympics are extremely resilient in the rapidly changing climate of media and entertainment, and the Paris game has been a huge success. Last week, NBC announced this month it had reached a four-year extension of its Olympic rights worth $3 billion (£2.5 billion).
