Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. "It is a signal that we are truly global," the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist said.

Kirsty Coventry has been elected as the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), becoming the first woman and African to ever be elected to the position. Coventry, 41, will also be the youngest ever to assume the role and came through a field of seven contenders in the seaside resort of Costa Navarino in Greece to land the most powerful job in world sport.