58 Facts About Kirsty Coventry

Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward is a Zimbabwean politician, sports administrator and former competitive swimmer.

Kirsty Coventry will become the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee in June 2025, being the first woman, the first Zimbabwean, and the first African to be elected to that position, replacing Thomas Bach.

At the 2004 Summer Olympics, in Athens, Kirsty Coventry won three Olympic medals: a gold, a silver, and a bronze, and in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing she won four medals: a gold and three silver.

Kirsty Coventry was described by Paul Chingoka, head of the Zimbabwe Olympic Committee, as "our national treasure".

In 2016, Kirsty Coventry retired from swimming after her fifth Olympics, having won the joint-most individual medals in women's swimming in Olympic history.

Kirsty Coventry is a member of the International Olympic Committee and was elected the Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission, the body that represents all Olympic athletes worldwide, in early 2018.

Kirsty Coventry was born in Harare on 16 September 1983 to Robert Edwin and Lyn Kirsty Coventry.

Kirsty Coventry attended the Dominican Convent, a Catholic all-girls private school in Harare.

Kirsty Coventry became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Olympics and was named the country's Sports Woman of the Year.

Kirsty Coventry finished with a time of 2:14.53, a Commonwealth Games record.

Kirsty Coventry won three medals, including a gold medal in the 200-metre backstroke event; where she broke an African continental record.

Kirsty Coventry won a silver medal in the 100 metre backstroke event.

Kirsty Coventry finished behind the winner by 0.13 of a second, breaking an African record of 1:00.50.

Kirsty Coventry claimed her bronze medal in the 200 metre individual medley event, breaking an African record of 2:12.72.

Kirsty Coventry became the nation's first athlete in its history to claim an individual Olympic medal.

Kirsty Coventry was named the College Swimming Coaches Association Swimmer of the Meet for her efforts.

At the 2005 World Championships in Montreal, Canada, Kirsty Coventry improved on her 2004 Olympic medal count by winning gold in both the 100 m and 200 m backstroke and silver in the 200 m and the 400 m IM.

Kirsty Coventry bettered her Olympic gold-winning 200 m backstroke time with a performance of 2:08.52.

Kirsty Coventry was one of just two swimmers from Zimbabwe along with Warren Paynter.

In Melbourne, Australia, at the 2007 World Championships, Kirsty Coventry won silver medals in the 200 m backstroke and 200 m IM.

Kirsty Coventry was disqualified in the 400 m IM when finishing second to eventual winner Katie Hoff in her heat.

Kirsty Coventry finished in a disappointing 14th place in the 100 m backstroke in a time of 1:01.73, failing to qualify for the final.

Kirsty Coventry continued her good form of 2007 by winning four gold medals at the International Swim Meet in Narashino, Japan.

Kirsty Coventry led the way in the 200 m and 400 m IM as well as the 100 m and 200 m backstroke.

In 2008, Kirsty Coventry broke her first world record in the 200 m backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix.

Kirsty Coventry bettered the mark set by Krisztina Egerszegi in August 1991, the second-oldest swimming world record.

Kirsty Coventry continued her winning streak at the meet by winning the 100 m backstroke and the 200 m IM.

Kirsty Coventry is the third woman in history to break the 1:00 minute barrier in the 100 m backstroke, and the second to break the 59-second barrier.

At the 2008 Manchester Short Course World Championships, Kirsty Coventry broke her second world record, setting a time, whilst winning the gold medal, of 4:26:52 in the 400 m IM.

Kirsty Coventry's time of 57:10 was a new championship record and the second-fastest time in history in the event.

Kirsty Coventry's time of 2:03:69 was a mere four-tenths of a second outside the current world record set by Reiko Nakamura in Tokyo in 2008.

Kirsty Coventry then bettered this time to take her second world record of the championships by winning the final in a time of 2:00:91.

Kirsty Coventry then went on to shatter the short course World Record in winning the 200 m individual medley in 2:06:13.

Kirsty Coventry represented Zimbabwe at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China.

Kirsty Coventry won the silver medal in the 400 metre individual medley event on 10 August 2008, becoming the second woman to swim the medley in less than 4:30, the first being Stephanie Rice who won the gold in the same event.

Kirsty Coventry beat the world record by just under two seconds and was only just beaten by Rice to a new world record.

Kirsty Coventry was again beaten by Stephanie Rice in the 200 m individual medley, despite swimming under the former world record.

Kirsty Coventry did defend her Olympic title in the 200 m backstroke, winning gold in a world record time of 2:05.24.

Kirsty Coventry was the country's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

Kirsty Coventry was the lone member of the delegation to medal, helping win Zimbabwe's most medals at the Olympics ever.

At the 2009 World Aquatics Championships in Rome, Italy, Kirsty Coventry won a gold and a silver.

Kirsty Coventry won the 200 m backstroke world title with a world record time and came second in the 400 m individual medley.

Kirsty Coventry came fourth in the 200 m individual medley final and eighth in the 100 m backstroke final.

Kirsty Coventry finished third in her semifinal heat of the 200 m individual medley, just edging her into the final, where she placed 6th with a time of 2:11.13.

Kirsty Coventry was designated the honor of carrying the Zimbabwean flag into the opening ceremony for the first time.

Previously, Kirsty Coventry won four gold and four silver medals in the 2015 All-Africa Games in Maputo, Mozambique.

Kirsty Coventry retired after the 2016 Olympics, where she carried the Zimbabwean flag into the stadium during the opening ceremony for the second and final time.

On 7 September 2018, eight days before her 35th birthday, Kirsty Coventry was appointed Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in Zimbabwe's 20-member Cabinet under President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

Kirsty Coventry's tenure has received criticism from the arts community and others due to perceived inaction and lack of support.

Kirsty Coventry was accused of having been misallocated farmland by Robert Zhuwao, former President Robert Mugabe's nephew, but was cleared after it was revealed in court that she received a different subdivision of the farm in question and that Zhuwao had abandoned his subdivision.

In September 2023, Kirsty Coventry was re-appointed as Zimbabwe's Minister for Sports, Art and Recreation by Mnangagwa.

In 2012, Kirsty Coventry was elected to the International Olympic Committee Athletes' Commission.

Kirsty Coventry has served as an IOC member for the past eight years.

On 20 March 2025 at the 144th IOC Session, Kirsty Coventry became the first woman and the first African to be elected as president of the IOC.

Kirsty Coventry won the election on the first ballot, with 49 votes.

Kirsty Coventry's vision is to restore the Olympics as a beacon of inclusivity and unity, ensuring that the Games are truly for everyone, regardless of their background or birthplace.

On 10 August 2013, Kirsty Coventry married Tyrone Seward who had been her manager since 2010.

Kirsty Coventry was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2023.