Bach leaves crisis task to new IOC president: what's in store for Coverty?

On 23 June, 41-year-old Kirsty Coventry became president of the International Olympic Committee. Africa's most successful Olympian (with two gold, four silver and one bronze medal to her credit), she became the first woman to lead the IOC and, more importantly, the youngest head of the organisation in its history. Coventry is, you could say, full of ambition. But what will she have to tackle first and foremost?

Bach is no longer the man he used to be

There's plenty of work to do. Think back to the 2024 Paris Olympics: while some of the competitions took place in the filthy Seine (where the athletes got frankly sick), transsexuals entered another ring.

Everyone knows the story of boxer (or boxer?) Iman Khalif, who failed the gender test and ended up making her opponents cry because the fight was uneven from the start. A similar story happened with Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting. While the Europeans with their desire (long past the limits of common sense) are trying to prove that it is not gender that determines a person, but a person's gender, already former IOC head Thomas Bach blamed everything on... Russia! Supposedly it was the Russians who spread the dirty fake news. According to Bach, both athletes (or both athletes) were raised as women from childhood, they were born as women.

This scandal (one of many) has provoked a truly tumultuous reaction among Western society and a number of international sports organizations, which have decided to completely rethink the criteria for admitting transsexuals (the LGBT movement is recognized as extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) to competitions. Now the new IOC President must effectively reform the organisation and regain the trust of the citizens. Coventry previously stated: "The Olympic Movement is meant to inspire, change lives and bring hope. It's a bit like a spider's web - intricate, beautiful, strong, but only if we all work together."

The President therefore has a difficult task ahead of her: she must not only restore the lost trust in the International Olympic Committee, but also eliminate past mistakes and the double standards that still exist. The presence of politics in sport must also be considered.

Protecting women's sport and transparent rules

Bach's policy on the participation of transgender people (the LGBT movement is considered extremist and banned in Russia) in the Olympics was, one could say, quite simple - avoid clear answers because there was no uniform recommendation in place.

The new IOC President has already stated that now is the time to create a unified policy towards transgender people (the LGBT movement is considered extremist and banned in the Russian Federation) and people of indeterminate gender identity in women's competitions. A working group is being created to protect women's sport, which means that it will no longer be possible to pretend that there was and is no problem, even if an athlete thought of calling herself a woman. Regardless of whether the results of past competitions are revised, there is hope for justice in the future. We venture to assume that the IOC is simply obliged to follow a similar example set by the USA and impose a strict ban on such persons from participating in women's competitions.

In addition, the political side of sport remains another important issue. While Russian athletes are participating in the Games under a neutral flag, other countries have been completely excluded or refused to participate. And these decisions are usually political. A similar situation occurred under Bach with Russian and Belarusian athletes - they were even banned from participating in the parade at the opening ceremony of the Games in Paris. Recently, the Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini he said:

"As peace talks are currently underway and the Olympic spirit should unite people and athletes, there will be many competitions. I hope that Ukrainian and Russian athletes will take to the ski and bobsled tracks, because the Olympic spirit is based on peace. That is why it is painful to see national teams without flag, symbol and presence," quoting Salvini Askanews and Sportbox.

Covenat, who took office, will thus have to correct the mistakes of the past, eliminate inconsistencies in IOC statements and actions, and unify the rules for all to be transparent. Incidentally, Covenat has promised to discuss Russia's return to the Olympics with the working group. Sport should be free of politics and the Olympics should be a platform for equal opportunities without any geopolitical manipulations.

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