Kirsty Coventry

Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (née Coventry; born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean politician, sports administrator and retired competitive swimmer. She will become the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee in June 2025, being the first woman, the first Zimbabwean, and the first African to be elected to that position, replacing Thomas Bach. Coventry served in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe from September 2018 to March 2025 as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation until September 2023 and then as Minister of Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture. A former Olympic swimmer and world record holder, she is the most decorated Olympian from Africa.
Born in Harare, Coventry attended and swam competitively for Auburn University in Alabama, in the United States. At the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Coventry won three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze, and in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she won four medals: a gold and three silver. She was subsequently described by Paul Chingoka, head of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, as "our national treasure". Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called her "a golden girl", and awarded her US$100,000 in cash for her 2008 Olympic performance. In 2016, Coventry retired from swimming after her fifth Olympics, having won the joint-most individual medals in women's swimming in Olympic history. She is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and was elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide, in early 2018. In 2025, she was elected President of the IOC, becoming the first woman and first African to do so. Following her election, President Mnangagwa appointed Gen. Anselem Sanyatwe to replace her as Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation.
Coventry was born in Harare on 16 September 1983 to Robert Edwin and Lyn Coventry. She attended the Dominican Convent, a Catholic all-girls private school in Harare.
In 2000, while still in high school at the Dominican Convent in Harare, Coventry qualified for the Olympics in Sydney. She became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Olympics and was named the country's Sports Woman of the Year. In the games, she broke the Zimbabwean national record twice in the 100 metre backstroke event, and African continental record in the 200 metre individual medley event; she did not qualify for the finals in either event.
She qualified for the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England, winning gold in the 200 metre individual medley event. She finished with a time of 2:14.53, a Commonwealth Games record.
Coventry qualified for her second Olympics, in 2004 in Athens, Greece. She won three medals, including a gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke event; where she broke an African continental record. Coventry won a silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke event. She finished behind the winner by 0.13 of a second, breaking an African record of 1:00.50. She claimed her bronze medal in the 200 metre individual medley event, breaking an African record of 2:12.72. Her three medals were the only medals won by Zimbabwe in the 2004 Summer Olympics, which was their second-highest medal count ever. Coventry also became the nation's first athlete in its history to claim an individual Olympic medal.
As a student at Auburn University in Alabama, United States, Coventry helped lead the Tigers to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championships in 2003 and 2004. In 2005, she was the top individual scorer at the NCAA Championships and captured three individual titles including the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley (IM), and the 200-yard backstroke for the second consecutive season. She was named the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts. Other awards include 2005 Southeastern Conference (SEC) Swimmer of the Year, and the 2004–05 SEC Female Athlete of the Year. She was also the recipient of the 2004–05 Honda Sports Award for Swimming and Diving, recognizing her as the outstanding college female swimmer of the year.
In 2006, she graduated from Auburn with a Bachelor of Science in Hotel and Restaurant Management.
At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, Coventry improved on her 2004 Olympic medal count by winning gold in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and silver in the 200 m and the 400 m IM. She bettered her Olympic gold-winning 200 m backstroke time with a performance of 2:08.52. She was one of just two swimmers from Zimbabwe along with Warren Paynter.
In Melbourne, Australia, at the 2007 World Championships, Coventry won silver medals in the 200 m backstroke and 200 m IM. She was disqualified in the 400 m IM when finishing second to eventual winner Katie Hoff in her heat. Coventry finished in a disappointing 14th place in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 1:01.73, failing to qualify for the final. She continued her good form of 2007 by winning four gold medals at the International Swim Meet in Narashino, Japan. She led the way in the 200 m and 400 m IM as well as the 100 m and 200 m backstroke. In the 2007 All-Africa Games in Algiers, Algeria, Coventry won seven gold and three silver medals.
In 2008, Coventry broke her first world record in the 200 m backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix. She bettered the mark set by Krisztina Egerszegi in August 1991, the second-oldest swimming world record. Her new record was 2:06:39. Coventry continued her winning streak at the meet by winning the 100 m backstroke and the 200 m IM. Coventry is the third woman in history to break the 1:00 minute barrier in the 100 m backstroke, and the second to break the 59-second barrier.
At the 2008 Manchester Short Course World Championships, Coventry broke her second world record, setting a time, whilst winning the gold medal, of 4:26:52 in the 400 m IM. The following day saw Coventry win her second gold medal of the championships in the 100 m backstroke. Her time of 57:10 was a new championship record and the second-fastest time in history in the event. Only Natalie Coughlin has swum faster (56:51). Day three of the championships saw Coventry break another championship record in qualifying fastest for the final of the 200 m backstroke. Her time of 2:03:69 was a mere four-tenths of a second outside the current world record set by Reiko Nakamura in Tokyo in 2008. Coventry then bettered this time to take her second world record of the championships by winning the final in a time of 2:00:91. She then went on to shatter the short course World Record in winning the 200 m individual medley in 2:06:13.
Coventry represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China. Coventry won the silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley event on 10 August 2008, becoming the second woman to swim the medley in less than 4:30, the first being Stephanie Rice who won the gold in the same event. Coventry beat the world record by just under two seconds and was only just beaten by Rice to a new world record. Coventry, in the second semi-final of the 100 m backstroke event, set a new world record of 58.77 seconds. However, in the final of that event she was beaten to the gold medal by Natalie Coughlin. Coventry was again beaten by Stephanie Rice in the 200 m individual medley, despite swimming under the former world record. Coventry did defend her Olympic title in the 200 m backstroke, winning gold in a world record time of 2:05.24. She was the country's flag bearer at the closing ceremony. She was the lone member of the delegation to medal, helping win Zimbabwe's most medals at the Olympics ever.
Awarded US$100,000 by President Mugabe for her success at the Olympics, Coventry gave that money to charity.
At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, Coventry won a gold and a silver. She won the 200 m backstroke world title with a world record time and came second in the 400 m individual medley. She came fourth in the 200 m individual medley final and eighth in the 100 m backstroke final.
Coventry qualified for her fourth Olympic Games in the 2012 Olympics in London, England. For the first time since 2000, Coventry did not win a medal. She finished third in her semifinal heat of the 200 m individual medley, just edging her into the final, where she placed 6th with a time of 2:11.13. In the 200 m backstroke, she finished outside medal contention in sixth place with a time of 2:08.18. She was designated the honor of carrying the Zimbabwean flag into the opening ceremony for the first time. Previously, Coventry won four gold and four silver medals in the 2015 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.
Her fifth and final Olympic appearance came at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where she repeated her 6th-place performance in the 200 metre backstroke from 2012, with a time of 2:08.80. She also finished 11th in the 100 metre backstroke. She retired after the 2016 Olympics, where she carried the Zimbabwean flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony for the second and final time. In her final African Games in 2015, in Brazzaville, the Republic of the Congo, Coventry won three golds and one bronze medals.
On 7 September 2018, eight days before her 35th birthday, Coventry was appointed Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in Zimbabwe's 20-member Cabinet under President Emmerson Mnangagwa. Her tenure has received criticism from the arts community and others due to perceived inaction and lack of support. Among issues levelled against her was the Confederation of African Football's decision to ban Zimbabwe from hosting national team games in 2020 due to unsafe stadiums.
Coventry was accused of having been misallocated farmland by Robert Zhuwao, former President Robert Mugabe's nephew, but was cleared after it was revealed in court that she received a different subdivision of the farm in question and that Zhuwao had abandoned his subdivision. In September 2023, Coventry was re-appointed as Zimbabwe's Minister for Sports, Art and Recreation by Mnangagwa. Amid criticism over her taking a position in Mnangagwa's government, which was elected in contested circumstances that year, she said "I don't think you can stand on the sidelines and scream and shout for change," and that "I believe you have to be seated at the table to try and create it."
In 2012, Coventry was elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission. She has served as an IOC member for the past eight years. In 2023, she became an elected member of the IOC Executive Committee. In September 2024, she was announced as one of seven candidates in the running to succeed Thomas Bach as IOC president. During her campaign for the IOC presidency, Coventry stated that she supported banning transgender women from competition in women's events. She said that "ensuring fairness in women's sport and maintaining the integrity of women's categories is essential."
On 20 March 2025 at the 144th IOC Session, Coventry became the first woman and the first African to be elected as president of the IOC. Coventry will officially become president on 24 June, after incumbent Thomas Bach steps down. She won the election on the first ballot, with 49 votes.
Coventry's vision is to restore the Olympics as a beacon of inclusivity and unity, ensuring that the Games are truly for everyone, regardless of their background or birthplace. Coventry's commitment to leveraging sports as a universal connector marks a pivotal moment in the organization's history. Despite recent challenges, including debates on athlete participation and geopolitical tensions, Coventry's plans to empowering athletes and promoting social equity is poised to revitalize the Olympic spirit focusing on feminism and gender equality.
On 10 August 2013, Coventry married Tyrone Seward who had been her manager since 2010. In May 2019, she gave birth to their first child.
With seven Olympic medals, Coventry is the most decorated Olympian from Africa. At the time of her retirement, she had tied with Krisztina Egerszegi for having won the most individual Olympic medals in women's swimming. This feat has since been surpassed by Katie Ledecky. Coventry competed at five Olympics, from 2000 to 2016. As of 2024, she has won all but one of Zimbabwe's Olympic medals.
She was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2023.