Kirsty Coventry’s story is one of apparent contradictions. She’s a white woman celebrated as a national hero in a Black-majority Zimbabwe and an Olympic swimmer turned politician. She’s also now one of the most powerful figures in global sports as president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Her journey reflects the complex interplay of race, gender and post-colonial politics in Zimbabwe, a nation still grappling with the legacies of colonialism and the authoritarian rule of Robert Mugabe.
As sociologists in Zimbabwe, we drew from newspaper reports and academic and online sources to give an account of how these factors have played out, and what sport has to do with it.
