- Lord Sebastian Coe lost the battle to become the new IOC president on Thursday
- Olympic swimming champion Kirsty Coventry beat Coe to the position
Lord Coe has been defeated in his quest to become the most important person in sport.
The 68-year-old lost out to Kirsty Coventry, with the Zimbabwean to become the new president of the International Olympic Committee.
Coventry, the 41-year-old sports minister of her country, is to be the first woman and first African to lead the IOC in its 131 year-history.
She was widely viewed as the preferred choice of outgoing president Thomas Bach and her victory will lead to dismay among those who had hoped for reform to a much-criticised body. Indeed, there had been widespread reports that Bach, who has been in place since 2013, had been lobbying members to casts their votes for Coventry.
A former swimmer, she received £55,000 from dictator Robert Mugabe and is minister of sport for a government elected in a process slated by human rights groups. Her time in post has seen her viewed as the soft face of what is deemed by many to be a brutal regime.
At the height of her Olympic successes, Mugabe branded her ‘our golden girl’ however, she has been criticised heavily for her handling of FIFA’s 18-month ban on Zimbabwe and failure to prevent a perceived decline in football, boxing and other sports.
Lord Sebastian Coe has lost in his bid to become the 10th president of the IOC
Kirsty Coventry (pictured) will become the first female IOC president after beating Coe
Juan Antonio Samaranch (pictured) was also a leading candidate for the position
Coventry ran on a platform of ‘zero tolerance for corruption… and unethical behaviour’.
Coe was widely-viewed as a more serious reformer and his defeat will disappoint those who were seeking change.
During his time as head of World Athletics, he has overseen the introduction of a robust anti-doping programme, has banned Russian athletes and introduced regulation on the involvement of DSD (difference in Sexual development) and transgender athletes in female categories.
Around 100 IOC members, including the likes of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, the Emir of Qatar and princesses from Liechtenstein and Saudi Arabia, voted at the five-star Westin hotel on the south coast of the Greek mainland.
Also in the race were Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan, Johan Eliasch, David Lappartient and Morinari Watanabe.
Coe will now return to his role as president of World Athletics, which he has held until 2015.
Coventry will take office on June 23.
