Kirsty Coventry: IOC Reform & Sport Focus

The new IOC President Kirsty Coventry has the selection process for the hosts of the Olympic Games at the start of her term. The 41-year-old announced after the first executive committee meeting under her leadership in Lausanne to create a corresponding working group. There had been “overwhelming support” on the part of the IOC members to pause and check the current selection process, said Coventry. This was a result of the reforms of Coventry’s predecessor Thomas Bach, but is criticized as too opaque because a small circle around the IOC board is pre-selected. In the future, the IOC members should have more say again. Sebastian Coe and Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr.

Coventry also takes up a central demand from Sebastian Coe

Germany’s planned application for summer games 2036, 2040 or 2044 could also be affected by a changed award procedure. The International Olympic Committee had already awarded the Summer Games 2032 in Brisbane, Australia in Brisbane in 2021. The big event takes place in the US metropolis of Los Angeles four years earlier. The coming three winter games are awarded to Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy (2026), the French Alps (2030) and Salt Lake City in the USA (2034).

A second working group, according to Coventry, the first woman at the IOC tip, should ensure more protection of the women’s category. The IOC wanted to take a leadership role here and bring together scientific experts and the specialist associations, confirmed the former world -class swimmer from Zimbabwe. This was a central claim in the Coe campaign manifesto, which has already enforced similar reforms in the World Athletics Association.

At the Olympia in Paris, the IOC and Thomas Bach had been heavily criticized because they had the boxers iMane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-Ting starting from Taiwan. Both later Olympic champions were previously excluded by the IOC World Association, which is no longer recognized by the IOC, after not explained gender tests. However, World Boxing, the new umbrella organization of the Olympic Boxing, had recently decided to subject athletes in the future. The announcements follow the message of US President Donald Trump, not to give a visa to all those “men” who “pretend to be female athletes for the 2028 Olympic Games”.

Aiko Tanaka

Aiko Tanaka is a combat sports journalist and general sports reporter at Archysport. A former competitive judoka who represented Japan at the Asian Games, Aiko brings firsthand athletic experience to her coverage of judo, martial arts, and Olympic sports. Beyond combat sports, Aiko covers breaking sports news, major international events, and the stories that cut across disciplines — from doping scandals to governance issues to the business side of global sport. She is passionate about elevating the profile of underrepresented sports and athletes.

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