Kirsty Coventry is a swimmer who has competed for Zimbabwe. She competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 Summer Olympic Games. She became the country's most decorated Olympian of all time, winning a total of seven medals throughout her Olympic career. She was selected to carry the Zimbabwean flag during the London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016 opening ceremony.
Coventry became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinals at the Games when she first competed as a 17-year-old in 2000. Four years later in Athens, Coventry rose from an outsider to a top medal favorite in the backstroke and medley races. She blasted an African record (1:00.50) to take a silver in the 100 metres backstroke, trailing the winner Natalie Coughlin by 0.13 of a second. She added a bronze in the 200 metres individual medley with another African record (2:12.72) and closed out her second Games with a gold in the 200 metres backstroke.
Beijing 2008 marked the peak of Coventry's swimming career. She dipped under the 4:30 barrier in the 400 metres individual medley, but she settled only for a silver by 0.44 seconds behind the winner Stephanie Rice. She continued her podium streak by adding her third silver to the medal haul in the 200. She set a new world record of 58.77 to lead the field in the semifinals of the 100 metres backstroke, but she lost again a gold to Coughlin at the final by 0.23 of a second. Coventry posted the fastest time of the field (2:06.76) to lead 34 other swimmers in the heats of the 200, slashing four tenths of a second (0.40) off an Olympic record set by Krisztina Egerszegi from Barcelona 1992. Soon, she crushed a new world record of 2:05.24 to defend her title in the final.
Coventry's streak for a third straight victory in the 200 metres backstroke snapped at London 2012, when she saw Missy Franklin erase her world record by 0.75 of a second and dropped off the podium to sixth with a time of 2:08.18. She missed the top eight final in the 100 and landed on the sixth spot in the 200 metres individual medley.
At her fifth Games in 2016, Coventry shortened her program to a backstroke double (100 and 200). Once again, she failed to advance from the semifinals in the 100 with an eleventh place time and repeated her position from London in the 200 to close out her Olympic career.
Coventry was elected as Chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s Athlete Commission until 2022. On 21 March 2025, she became the first woman and first African to be ever elected as the new IOC president, replacing Thomas Bach.
Olympic Results[]
| Year | Event | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Women's 50m freestyle | 36th |
| Women's 100m freestyle | 28th | |
| Women's 100m backstroke | 12th | |
| Women's 200m individual medley | 18th | |
| 2004 | Women's 100m backstroke | 
|
| Women's 200m backstroke | 
| |
| Women's 200m individual medley | 
| |
| 2008 | Women's 100m backstroke |
|
| Women's 200m backstroke |
| |
| Women's 200m individual medley |
| |
| Women's 400m individual medley |
| |
| 2012 | Women's 100m backstroke | 14th |
| Women's 200m backstroke | 6th | |
| Women's 200m individual medley | 6th | |
| 2016 | Women's 100m backstroke | 11th |
| Women's 200m backstroke | 6th |
2000[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 metres freestyle | Heats | 26.58 | |
| Semifinal | Did not advance | ||
| Final | |||
| 100 metres freestyle | Heats | 57.47 | |
| Semifinal | Did not advance | ||
| Final | |||
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 1:03.05 | NR |
| Semifinal | 1:02.54 | NR | |
| Final | Did not advance | ||
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:17.73 | AR |
| Semifinal | Did not advance | ||
| Final | |||
2004[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 1:01.60 | AR |
| Semifinal | 1:01.21 | AR | |
| Final | 1:00.50 | AR | |
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:12.49 | |
| Semifinal | 2:10.04 | AR | |
| Final | 2:09.19 | AR | |
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:13.33 | |
| Semifinal | 2:13.68 | ||
| Final | 2:12.72 | AR |
2008[]
| Discipline | Round | Time | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 59.00 | OR |
| Semifinal | 58.77 | WR | |
| Final | 59.19 | ||
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:06.76 | OR |
| Semifinal | 2:07.76 | ||
| Final | 2:05.24 | WR | |
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:12.18 | |
| Semifinal | 2:09.53 | OR | |
| Final | 2:08.59 | AR | |
| 400 metres individual medley | Heats | 4:36.43 | PR |
| Final | 4:29.89 | AR |
2012[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 1:00.24 |
| Semifinal | 1:00.39 | |
| Final | Did not advance | |
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:08.14 |
| Semifinal | 2:08.32 | |
| Final | 2:08.18 | |
| 200 metres individual medley | Heats | 2:10.51 |
| Semifinal | 2:10.93 | |
| Final | 2:11.13 |
2016[]
| Discipline | Round | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 100 metres backstroke | Heats | 1:00.13 |
| Semifinal | 1:00.26 | |
| Final | Did not advance | |
| 200 metres backstroke | Heats | 2:08.91 |
| Semifinal | 2:08.83 | |
| Final | 2:08.80 |