Ms. Coventry, a former Olympic swimming champion who has been Zimbabwe’s sports minister, faces urgent issues including the rights of transgender athletes and the challenges posed by the climate crisis.

Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe has been elected the first female president of the International Olympic Committee, and the 10th president overall of the organization that was founded in 1894. IOC members voted Coventry, a seven-time Olympic swimming medalist, into the role’s eight-year term (renewable for an extra four years) on Thursday.

The IOC elected two-time Olympic gold medalist Kirsty Coventry as its new president in a vote on Thursday. She will replace Thomas Bach.