Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, becoming the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. The Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist described the role as a "platform to showcase the good of humanity.

Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry on her election as International Olympic Committee president on Thursday, saying her "unique experience" would ensure the movement's advancement.

The next president of the International Olympic Committee is a former Zimbabwe swimmer who is Africa's most decorated Olympian and a minister in a government often accused of oppressing political opposition.