Zimbabwean swimming icon Kirsty Coventry was on Saturday elected to the International Olympic Committee (IOC)Athletes’ Commission.
Coventry’s election victory came a day after she got engaged to her longtime boyfriend Tyrone Seward. Olympic athletes, who are elected to the commission, take on eight-year terms as representatives for all athletes in the Olympic movement.
Coventry joins Slovakia’s Danka Bartekova (shooting), Australia’s James Tomkins (rowing) and France’s Tony Estanguet (canoeing) as newly-elected members of the commission.
The voting was not without controversy as two candidates were disqualified for breaking IOC rules against campaigning “too hard” for the positions.
Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi and Taiwanese Tae Kwon Do fighter Chu Mu-yen were the two that were disqualified. Serbia’s Milorad Cavic was also one of 21 candidates for positions on the IOC Athletes’ Commission.
There were 21 candidates in the elections that were held between July 16 and August 8 in the Olympic Village in London, the Olympic Sailing Village, the Olympic Rowing and Canoe Sprint Village, as well as in the five cities hosting the football competitions.
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Some 6 924 athletes — 64% of all eligible voters — cast their votes and the final numbers were Bartekova elected with 2 295 votes, followed by Tomkins with 1 802 votes, Coventry received 1 797 votes and Estanguet 1 779.
The four athletes take the places of Hicham El Guerrouj, Rania Elwani, the legendary former Namibian sprinter Frank Fredericks (former chairman) and Jan Zelezny, who were elected in 2004 at the Athens Games for their eight-year terms.
Fredericks was nominated as a regular IOC member during the session prior to the start of London 2012, meaning he will continue to serve. The new four will also serve on the Athletes’ Commission chaired by Claudia Bokel, who also sits on the IOC executive board as athlete representative.
The commission is designed to be the athletes’ link in the decision-making process of the Olympic body. “The athletes are at the centre of everything we do, and the commission ensures that their voice is heard in all important decisions taken by the IOC,” commission chairwoman Anita DeFrantz told reporters on Saturday.
Coventry (28) is without a doubt Zimbabwe’s greatest Olympian since 1980 and her appointment to the prestigious commission is due recognition for her successes.
At the peak of her career, Coventry won seven medals (three golds and four silvers) at the 2004 Olympic in Athens and Beijing in 2008, but a combination of injuries, sickness and a year spent away from the water in 2010 saw her missing out on a medal in London.