NAIROBI, Kenya- New IOC president Kirsty Coventry,a double Olympic champion is the new president of the International Olympic Committee.
Coventry, elected in March is the first woman, first African and the youngest ever person to hold the reputable position in the 130 years of the organization.
The 41- year old Zimbabwean won in the first round of voting garnering 49 votes out of 97 votes against her opponents Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Sebastia Coe who came in at second and third with 28 and 8 votes respectively.
A decorated former Olympian, Coventry turned into politics after retiring and has been Zimbabwe’s sports minister since 2018.
She is an avid champion of the African continent and intends to expand Olympics participation in the continent and to ensure the games remain relevant to the younger generations.
Kirsty becomes the 10th president of IOC, presiding for the next 8 years and takes over from Thomas Bach after a three months transition period.The official handover ceremony will be on 23rd June on Olympic Day.
Luol Deng. Former professional basketball player and two-time NBA all-star Luol Deng is on a mission as a celebrity in promoting sports and as an advocate of women empowerment.
Luol, from South Sudan won the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA VIsionary Ally award in March for his continued work as president of South Sudan Basketball Federation and chairman of the Loul Deng Foundation.
Launched in 2004 the Luol Deng Foundation,was the first to support a women’s basketball league in South Sudan.
The foundations flagship programme offers year round programme for over 1000 youths leveraging sports as a tool to promote education, health and wellness, gender equality and provides a safe space away from conflict. Luol Deng advocates for women and the youth to reach their potential.
He also acknoeledges the long way the country has to go being the youngest nation. F1 in Africa Lewis Hamilton desires to race in an African Grand prix before retiring.
The seven times F1 world champion has told the Fédération Internationale de I’Automobile FIA that it cannot continue to ‘ignore’ Africa as the sport explores new locations for future calendars.
The last F1 in Africa happened in 1993 in the 72- lap Kyalami race track in Johannesburg.Until now, Africa remains to be the only continent without a Grand prix among the continents.
21 countries are hosting the F1 2025 races with 24 fixtures on the annual schedule.Rwanda and South Africa are eyeing for a spot in 2027 to hold the prestigious race for the African continent.
Already, the F1 CEO, Stefano Domenicali has held meetis with representatives from Rwanda as the country looks to hold a Grand prix on a permanent track.Also Rwanda hosted the FIA Annual Assembly and prize giving ceremony in South Africa on the other hand is doing some renovations on the circuit that previously hosted other Grands prix.
“We can’t be adding races in other locations and continuing to ignore Africa which the rest of the world just takes from.No one gives anything to Africa” were Hamilton’s sentiments at the Dutch Grand Prix in August last year.
Lewis took time to travel to various African countries during his summer break in August.
