Coventry is the first woman and first African to be elected President of the International Olympic Committee
At 41, she is also the youngest ever to be so elected
Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer, politician, and sports administrator.
Coventry is currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since 7th September 2019. A former Olympic swimmer and world record holder, she is the most decorated Olympian from Africa.
At the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Coventry won three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze, while in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she won four medals: a gold and three silver. Former Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe called her “a golden girl,” and personally 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 also won 5 Gold and 6 Silver medals at the World Championships and also another Gold medal at the Commonwealth Games in Manchester (2002). She is a 14-time gold medalist at the All-African Games.
