By GRAHAM DUNBAR, AP Sports activities Author
MILAN (AP) — Change is coming to the Olympic program of sports activities and occasions and it’s going to be uncomfortable for some, IOC president Kirsty Coventry cautioned on Tuesday.
In a keynote speech earlier than her first Olympic Video games as its first female leader in its 130-year historical past, Coventry detailed a defining theme of her presidency.
Coventry set in movement final June a assessment of greater than 450 medal occasions organized by greater than 40 sports activities federations on the Summer time and Winter Video games.
“We’ve to be trustworthy about what works and typically extra importantly what doesn’t,” she stated on the Worldwide Olympic Committee annual assembly forward of the Milan Cortina Olympics opening on Friday.
“It means now we have to look our sports activities, disciplines and occasions with recent eyes to verify we’re evolving with our instances,” Coventry stated. “We are going to face tough selections and conversations — that’s a part of change.
“I do know these discussions may be, and probably might be, uncomfortable however they’re important if we’re to maintain the Video games sturdy for generations to return.”
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IOC President Kirsty Coventry attends the opening of the IOC Session, forward of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Picture/Luca Bruno)
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IOC President Kirsty Coventry attends the opening of the IOC Session, forward of the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 3, 2026. (AP Picture/Luca Bruno)
The Summer time Video games has chased youth audiences by including city sports activities like skateboarding and 3-on-3 basketball up to now decade, whereas breakdance got a debut in Paris 18 months in the past.
“We’ve to make sure the Video games stay inspiring for younger individuals in all places,” the two-time Olympic swimming champion stated. “That they mirror their values, their sense of authenticity and their seek for one thing real.”
Her phrases suggesting the necessity for “a stability between custom and innovation” may go away sports activities with a century of Olympic historical past similar to fashionable pentathlon combating for its future on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
“Sure, Paris was a terrific success however this second is now up to now,” she stated. “It will be harmful to relaxation on our laurels.”
The outcomes of the Olympic program assessment, a part of a “Match For The Future” agenda set by Coventry, are because of be introduced later this yr.
Extra sports activities, much less politics
One other theme of Coventry’s rising presidency is a renewed give attention to sports activities, much less so on participating in politics — although her earlier job was sports activities minister in Zimbabwe’s authorities.
Coventry’s predecessor Thomas Bach — who sat beside her on Tuesday — relished the political engagement the job can provide and intently aligned the IOC with the United Nations and its businesses. The IOC’s staffing ranges and bureaucratic tasks rose steadily in Bach’s 12-year management.
Bach’s own keynote speech on the eve of the Paris Summer time Video games was a protection of the multilateral world order that was underneath assault then and is much more so now.
“We’re a sports activities group,” Coventry reiterated on Tuesday, calling sports activities the IOC’s core precedence. “We perceive politics and we all know we don’t function in a vacuum. However our sport is sport.”
Coventry’s first assembly with United States President Donald Trump is eagerly anticipated in Olympic circles because the LA Summer time Video games approaches.
Olympic values of range, inclusion
Coventry has persistently pledged to defend and defend “Olympic values,” which embrace range and inclusion.
“That range is one in every of our best strengths,” she informed greater than 100 IOC members, praising the breadth and depth of the experiences they create to Olympic work. “What a rare group all of us are.”
Coventry famous the IOC “will proceed to assist” its tasks in well being, inclusion and schooling.
“That’s what the world wants from us,” she stated. “After we act with empathy and goal there isn’t any problem we can not face. That is the Olympic spirit that defines us.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
