Lausanne (Switzerland), June 23 (IANS) Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry has been officially welcomed as the president of the International Olympic Committee after Thomas Bach handed over the keys of the Olympic House to the former Olympic swimming champion in a handover ceremony held here on Monday.

Coventry was elected as the 10th president of the IOC and the first female president in IOC history, following voting at the 144th IOC Session in Costa Navarino, Greece, in March this year. “In this spirit of gratitude, confidence, and joy, I hand over the keys of Olympic House to Mrs Kirsty Coventry, the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee,” Bach said.

The president was elected by the IOC Members by secret ballot for a term of eight years. Coventry succeeds the ninth IOC president, Bach, whose 12-year tenure officially ended on Monday.

“As my mandate as IOC president comes to an end, I am deeply grateful because I have never walked this path alone. I am thankful to so many, but first and foremost, to all of you, my dear fellow IOC members. Your trust, your support, and your friendship have carried me throughout my presidency.

“From the beginning, the Olympic agenda has been on our compass… We have reformed, we have renewed, and we have united around the values that define our Olympic Movement. The road we travelled was not always easy, but we could overcome even the most complex challenges by standing together and being united,” Bach said in his address.

Bach was also awarded the Olympic Order in Gold by IOC President-elect Coventry, recognising his outstanding contribution to world sport and faithfulness to the Olympic ideal.

“This is the Olympic family. It is one of my greatest honours that I get to do this today. President Bach, I have been watching over the many years you have had this honour. And I’m extremely honoured because, as a movement, we’ve chosen to give this recognition to you. As I said, for your passion, for your commitment, for your purpose. But I get to give you the Olympic Order in gold as my very first Olympic Order. And I’m very excited about that.

“Over the last few weeks, there have been an incredible number of memories that have been shared with all of you, with President Bach, and in most of those, I have been able to be a part of it. There has been a common theme of words that have come up. Passion, purpose, respect, values, and togetherness. And this is a legacy that will stay with all of us for an extremely long amount of time. You are not just a leader, but a friend to so many of us. Thank you for that commitment and the time that both you and Claudia have given to us as a movement.

“Mr President, Thomas Bach, in recognition of your outstanding merit in the cause of world sport, and your faithfulness to the Olympic ideal as illustrated by Pierre de Coubertin, Renovator of the Olympic Games, I have the honour to award you the Olympic Order in gold,” said Coventry.

Coventry qualified for the first of her five Olympic Games in Sydney in 2000. She competed in four events in Sydney, but she did not win a medal. Four years later in Athens, she made her breakthrough, winning three medals and becoming the first athlete from Zimbabwe to claim an individual gold, triumphing in the 200m backstroke.

She competed in two more Olympic Games in London and Rio de Janeiro before retiring from the sport after the 2016 Games. She finished her Olympic swimming career with a total of seven medals (more than any other athlete from Africa), including two gold medals.

–IANS

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