Kirsty Coventry
President of the International Olympic Committee, elected in 2025.
Last refreshed: 10 July 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Could the IOC's first African president end up disciplining FIFA's Gianni Infantino?
Timeline for Kirsty Coventry
FairSquare takes Infantino fight to IOC
2026 FIFA World CupWho is Kirsty Coventry?
When did Kirsty Coventry become IOC president?
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Background
Kirsty Coventry is the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), elected in March 2025 as the first woman and first African to hold the position. In July 2026 she said the IOC had received no formal complaint against FIFA president Gianni Infantino, a day before the human rights group FairSquare said it would refer Infantino to the IOC Ethics Commission over the FIFA Peace Prize awarded to Donald Trump.
A Zimbabwean former competitive swimmer, Coventry won seven Olympic medals (two gold, four silver, one bronze) across five Games between 2000 and 2016, including back-to-back 200m backstroke gold in Athens and Beijing. She has served as Zimbabwe's Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation since 2018 and took up the IOC presidency on 23 June 2025.
As IOC president, Coventry now sits at the intersection of Olympic and football governance during a period of heightened scrutiny over FIFA's political Conduct, making her public statements on FIFA-adjacent complaints, like the Infantino referral, carry weight beyond the Olympic movement itself.