Rome, 20 Mar (LaPresse) – Kirsty Coventry has been elected as the new IOC president. At the end of the vote at the extraordinary assembly, the 41-year-old former swimmer succeeds Thomas Bach. A Zimbabwean national, Coventry is the first woman to sit at the top of world sport. She has been a member of the International Olympic Committee since 2013 and was the President of the IOC Athletes Commission. A former swimmer, at the 2004 Athens Games she won three medals (a gold in the 200 backstroke, a silver and a bronze), while at Beijing 2008 she won four medals (200 backstroke gold and three silvers). In 2016, she retired from swimming after her fifth Olympic participation.
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