Kirsty Coventry, the Recently Elected IOC President, Celebrated her Homecoming to Zimbabwe

A hero’s welcome greeted Kirsty Coventry, the newly elected president of the International Olympic Committee, when she landed in her native Zimbabwe on Sunday. The United States and other Western countries have isolated and sanctioned the southern African nation for years.

As the sole female contender for the IOC chair, Coventry, 41, who is also Zimbabwe’s sports minister, became the first African and female to be chosen head of the international Olympic movement.

The head of international cycling, the head of global track and field, and a member of Jordan’s royal family were among the six other candidates she defeated in Thursday’s voting in Greece. Our success, not just mine, is at stake. In Zimbabwe, Coventry declared, “We dismantled barriers.” To welcome Coventry home in Harare, dancers wearing headdresses and kilts made a stomping sound as part of a traditional African folklore dance, accompanied by drums and trumpets. Numerous more cheered enthusiastically, including young karatekas, female cricket players, and school-age youngsters. “This will put Zimbabwe on the international scene; it’s not just a personal victory,” Women Affairs Minister Monica Mutsvangwa stated during a welcoming ceremony.

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