New International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry has announced one of her first big initiatives on the job.
On Friday, Coventry unveiled four new “working groups,” that will deal with hot-button topics that are part of the IOC’s new “Fit For the Future” process.
The 42-year-old Coventry, a former Olympic champion swimmer turned politician in Zimbabwe, took over as IOC president in June after Thomas Bach retired.
The four working groups created are:
- Commercial Partnerships and Marketing. Coventry said, among other things, this group will “look at the IOC’s existing (programs), platforms and systems, how it engages with partners, and how it can evolve and ensure that it is fit for today’s competitive market.” The chair of the group is Colombian IOC member Luis Alberto Moreno. Johan Eliasch of Great Britain, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. of Spain, Richard Carrion of Puerto Rico and U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee President Gene Sykes are other members of the group.
- Olympic Programming. Coventry said this group will “look to find a balance between the size of the Games, the relevance of the sports and disciplines, the integration of new sports and disciplines, and, potentially, identifying ways for sports to be added to or removed from the (program) through a clear and transparent process. It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over, the timing of the Games, and the sports calendar.” The chair of the group is Karl Stoss of Austria. Other members are Sebastian Coe of Great Britain, former American track star Allyson Felix, former synchronized swimmer Nicole Hoevertsz of Aruba, and Ingmar De Los of Belgium.
- Protection of the Female Category. This group will consult with experts and International Federations to essentially do what the title of the group says, which is to protect female athletes. As of now, Coventry isn’t revealing the members of the group in order to “protect the integrity of the group and their work.”
- Youth Olympic Games. Created during the Jacques Rogge era and first held in 2010, Coventry said this group will take over the process of selecting the host for the 2030 Youth Games (the 2026 event will take place in Senegal) and also “look at the potential and relevance of the YOG.” The group will be chaired by Dante Hrbekova of Slovakia. It’s unclear who other group members are at the moment. The group is a split from the Future Host Commission for the Games of the Olympiad. In order to review the selection process of Olympic hosts, the Future Host Commission for the Games of the Olympiad will now focus solely on this topic.
Where is the Coaches Commission?
What members of the American swimming community did Kirsty interact significantly with during her time in the US and how can those relationships be leveraged for improved American/Swimming roles in the Olympic Movement.
Congratulations and good luck, Kirsty.
Not sure you need to leverage relationships to get more US influence on the Olympics. USA already buys the scheduling
1km ice swimming at the winter olympics 🙌 – water temp must be a max of 5 celsius / 40 fahrenheit & no wetsuits or full length open water suits permitted.
2 Feb 2030 – Haute-Savoie, France – An Olympic swimming official helps the exhausted gold medal winner of the inaugural 1k Ice Swim exit the pool.
“It will also consider the suggestion that traditional summer or winter sports could cross over”
Wait does this mean my fantasy of short course meters swimming at the Winter Olympics could someday come true? I know Kieran Smith suggested it in an interview a while back.
Idea – One big Olympics!
Big Beautiful Olympics