Kirsty Coventry has declared she's shattered a century-old glass ceiling as she hoped her election as the first female and first African president of the International Olympic Committee would be "an inspiration to many people".
Defeating the challenge of half-a-dozen 50-and-60-something men, the 41-year-old former Zimbabwean swim star, Africa's most decorated Olympian, dealt all the traditional old male guard an extraordinary knock-out blow while becoming the youngest holder of the biggest job in global sport.
The Zimbabwe sports minister and former Olympic swimming champ enjoyed a shock first-round win in the 97 IOC members' secret ballot in Greece on Thursday (Friday AEDT) as she received 49 votes in the first round, while her opponents mustered 48 between them.
She'll now get an eight-year mandate and will be the Olympic chief when the Games comes to Australia in 2032, playing the key role in overseeing the Brisbane showpiece.
The vote by IOC members had been expected to need several rounds of balloting before any candidate would secure the absolute majority required.
Yet Coventry achieved a remarkable first-round KO, defeating Britain's Sebastian Coe, Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr, Frenchman David Lappartient, Jordan's Prince Feisal, Swedish-born Johan Eliasch, and Japan's Morinari Watanabe in the initial round.
"I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken," Coventry told members at the Greek resort of Costa Navarino.
"The young girl who first started swimming in Zimbabwe all those years ago could never have dreamt of this moment.
"I am particularly proud to be the first female IOC President, and also the first from Africa.
"I hope that this vote will be an inspiration to many people. Glass ceilings have been shattered today, and I am fully aware of my responsibilities as a role model."
Coventry's ascension may have appeared revolutionary after 131 years of male dominance in the IOC, but there seems no question it also represented a victory for outgoing president Thomas Bach, who clearly played the role of 'queenmaker'.
His influence as her main backer was evident as only the former president's son Samaranch, among Coventry's rivals, secured a double-figure vote, while Coe, seen as a disrupter who Bach wanted to keep out of the hot seat, picked up a measly eight.
Now Coventry will formally replace Bach on June 23, becoming just the 10th IOC president, and she reckoned her appointment provided "a signal that we are truly global."
Coventry, a minister in a Zimbabwean government that's been accused of oppressing political opposition, is in so many ways a surprising choice.
At the height of her swimming career, she received a diplomatic passport and $US100,000 ($A160,000) by then Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, the autocrat who was eventually removed in a military-backed coup in 2017.
Coventry's well-known to Australian sports audiences, having made her Olympic debut - the first of five Games she attended - in Sydney in 2000. She also won two silvers at the 2007 world championships in Melbourne.
Key challenges for her will be steering the movement through potential political and sporting minefields towards the 2028 Games in Los Angeles, including having to test her diplomatic skills when negotiating with US President Donald Trump.
But for Coe, the crushing defeat at the age of 68 may be the end of the great British athlete's quest to land the job which he said he'd been "training for for the best part of my life".
It remains to be seen how much of a revolutionary his fellow two-time Olympic gold medallist becomes, as she's promised to make the IOC more inclusive and modernise the selection process for future Olympic hosts.
Its most youthful leader is expected to lead the push to integrate new sports attracting younger audiences, and she promised to safeguard Olympic values, declaring: "Right now in today's world, this is our biggest platform to showcase the good of humanity, and to share our values as the Olympic movement."
VOTING BREAKDOWN:
Votes cast: 97 (Absolute majority required 49)
Prince Feisal Al Hussein: 2
David Lappartient: 4
Johan Eliasch: 2
Juan Antonio Samarach Jr: 28
Kirsty Coventry: 49
Sebastian Coe: 8
Morinari Watanabe: 4
With agencies
