Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe's retired swimming icon and current Sports Minister, is the sole African contender for the International Olympic Committee presidency, inspiring hopes for fairness in sports and empowerment for women.
A champion at the Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, the 41-year-old now serves as her country's Sports Minister. Ahead of the IOC vote, Coventry has shared her vision and agenda for the Olympic body.
Coventry has drawn heightened attention due to the unprecedented nature of her potential presidency. However, she expressed confidence in her ability to tackle the challenge, push boundaries, and make tough decisions.
She recently shared insights on her vision for the Olympic movement, including the issue of prize money at the Summer and Winter Games.
Coventry emphasized the importance of better supporting athletes early in their careers, particularly through direct funding, to help them overcome challenges like sponsorship struggles and financial pressure. She believes this focus would ease the path to the Olympics, as the Olympic solidarity scholarship was crucial in her own journey.
Some feel this would help to level the playing field, especially for African nations.
"I have looked at how the Olympics are run, and as much as it's called an amateur sport, there are some countries that are able to throw a lot of money to support their athletes, the lesser nations need a voice. They need a voice to be able to compete. Kirsty did that in the pool herself and Kirsty, if she does get the position, has that ability from a sort of seniority perspective to say 'you know what, if we are calling this a sport for everyone then when does the fairness comes in?'" said Dirk Viljoen, former Zimbabwe national cricketer.
Her candidacy carries profound significance for women.
"Never mind the fact that it's huge that she will be the first African, she will be the youngest. But the fact that she is a woman who is achieving that, it speaks a lot to young girls. It speaks a lot to those that are aspiring for even roles that are not in sport," said Yvonne Mangunda, sports manager and media personality.
The elections for the new head of the Olympics body will be held at the 144th IOC Session between March 18 and 21.
Zimbabwe's iconic swimmer Coventry targets groundbreaking Olympic role
China's newly-released plan on special initiatives to increase consumption emphasizes integrated efforts to drive consumer spending and enhance public wellbeing, an official with the country's top economic planner said on Monday.
The plan, issued on Sunday by the General Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council, aims to vigorously boost consumption, stimulate domestic demand across the board, and increase spending power by raising earnings and reducing financial burdens.
The plan, organized into eight major sections, adopts a holistic approach by simultaneously addressing factors such as income growth, service consumption quality enhancement, big-ticket consumption upgrading, and consumption environment improvement.
"The plan marks the first time that stabilizing the stock market and real estate market has been emphasized in a consumption-related policy document. It also outlines corresponding measures aimed at increasing the public's confidence, and stabilizing expectations for consumption," Li Chunlin, deputy director of the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner, said at a press conference in Beijing.
The country will allocate 300 billion yuan (about 41.45 billion U.S. dollars) of ultra-long special treasury bonds to support the consumer goods trade-in program this year, with the scope of the program to be further expanded, Li said.
"In the first two months of this year, the retail sales of new energy passenger vehicles nationwide reached about 1.34 million units, and the sales of household appliances with the highest energy efficiency level amounted to 24.1 billion yuan, up 26 percent and 36 percent year on year, respectively. Sales of smart phones priced under 6,000 yuan reached approximately 33 million units, generating around 86 billion yuan in revenue. The average weekly sales volume and revenue grew by 19 percent and 29 percent, respectively, compared to the week before subsidies were introduced," he said.
The country will focus on the daily needs of the public by providing a more diverse and inclusive range of consumer goods, said Li.
"We aim to accelerate the establishment of community service outlets for shopping, dining, domestic services, and repair services, so that more residents can enjoy convenient services 'at their doorstep' or ' at their downstairs,'" he said.
By connecting consumer spending to broader social goals like elderly care improvement, childcare support and work-life balance, the plan embeds consumption growth within China's wider development objectives, signaling that consumption is being positioned not just as an economic target but as a means to enhance quality of life.
China’s new plan highlights integrated efforts to boost consumption, improve people’s wellbeing: official
