After her surprise election months ago as IOC president sparked hope for female athletes, Kirsty Coventry strongly confirmed that stance June 26, when she held her first official press conference leading the Olympic body.
“We understand that there’ll be differences depending on the sport,” she told reporters, “but it was very clear from the members that we have to protect the female category, first and foremost, to ensure fairness.”
She also insisted there is “overwhelming support” from IOC members to protect the female category.
Coventry was likely referring to her own election, held in March, when she beat six male rivals in the first round of secret ballots. One of the defeated candidates told reporters much of Coventry’s support came from other females.
A former Olympic swimming champion, who is from Zimbabwe, Coventry ran on a platform of protecting female athletes when she became the first female president to lead the IOC. She is also the youngest at age 41.
The next Olympic games, coming in the winter of 2026, will be held in Italy.
Steve McConkey, of 4 Winds Christian Athletics, has been fighting transgender ideology in sports for many years. He predicts Coventry, with the backing of many others, will make big changes.
“What this is saying,” he tells AFN, “is they are no longer going to put up with the deception that a man can compete as a woman."
