Kirsty Coventry to start 8-year leadership
Lausanne:The first female and first African president of the IOC, Kirsty Coventry was inaugurated in the role Monday on the organization's 131st birthday with praise that the Olympic movement was 'in the best of hands.'
Coventry, a two-time Olympic gold medalist in swimming for Zimbabwe, finally and formally takes office Tuesday aged just 41 after decisively winning a seven-candidate election in March to succeed Thomas Bach.
Coventry cited her family including her two young daughters as 'my rocks, my inspiration' to lead the International Olympic Committee through the next eight years including the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
'You are my constant reminders of why we do what we do every single day,' Coventry said, addressing six-year-old Ella seated near the front of the ceremony 'You are a constant reminder of why this movement is relevant, why it needs to change, why we need to embrace the new ways,' the new president said. 'And you will be a constant reminder for many years to come on the decisions that we all take together.' Coventry said Olympic leaders were 'guardians of a platform ... to inspire, to change lives, to bring hope.' Bach's voice had cracked with emotion minutes earlier as he handed over a symbolic key to the presidency to his protégé in Olympic politics.
The 71-year-old German lawyer, an Olympic champion in team fencing in 1976, leaves after the maximum 12 years in an office he said was now in the 'best of hands' with Coventry. 'I believe with all my heart that the Olympic movement is ready for the future,' said Bach, adding he had 'given all I could' to the IOC and the games.
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Scroll.in
28 minutes ago
- Scroll.in
When India nearly barred Israel from a Davis Cup tie in Delhi
In March 1987, New Delhi hosted one of the most thrilling Davis Cup ties of all time. The odds were against India. It was down two matches to one against the visiting Argentines, and its ageing superstar Vijay Amritraj was facing match point in the fourth set of the fourth match against Martin Jaite, who had defeated German sensation Boris Becker a year earlier. Somehow, Amritraj, 33, mustered enough calm and strength to overcome his highly favoured 23-year-old opponent to win the fourth set 8-6 and then the fifth set and match. After that, Ramesh Krishnan took care of business, clinching India one of its most famous tennis victories and sending it into the quarterfinals. But where there should have been unqualified joy, there was some anxiety. India's next adversary was Israel. At the time, India was one of the staunchest supporters of the Palestinian cause and many Indians opposed letting Israelis take part in the Davis Cup in India. The government too was unsure. Apart from its principled political stand on the Palestinian cause and its ties with the Arab world, the administration was worried about maintaining law and order in Delhi. In the past, India had taken a principled stand even when it came at a heavy cost. In 1974, it had reached the final of the Davis Cup but forfeited the match – and ceded the trophy – to protest against its opponent South Africa's repressive Apartheid policies. Should it do the same? That was the question. Amritraj summed up India's dilemma when he told reporters: 'As soon as we beat Argentina, everybody thought there was no way [the tie against Israel] was going to be played. It was kind of disheartening. As soon as you have a big win, everybody keeps writing, 'Well, too bad. We've come up against Israel after such a great win.' All the world over, it was said 'That match won't be played.'' Amritraj, who helped the 1974 team reach the Davis Cup final, had supported the boycott of Apartheid South Africa, saying, 'It was absolutely the right decision.' But in 1987, nearing the end of his sporting career, he voiced support for India's participation. The government too switched its stand. Threatened with a $10,000 fine and a three-year suspension, it allowed Israeli players to travel to India to take part in the quarterfinals. Angry protests India had a complex relationship with Israel in its early independent years. On the one hand, it officially recognised the state of Israel in 1950, but on the other, it steadfastly refused to establish full diplomatic relations with the country. In the sporting arena, too, the boundaries could be blurry for decades. In 1962, when Indonesia barred the Jewish state, along with Taiwan, from participating in the Jakarta Asian Games, the veteran Indian sports administrator Guru Dutt Sondhi, who founded the Asian Games Federation, was among those who spoke out against the decision. He proposed that the title ' Asian Games be withdrawn from the meeting ' and added, 'I am fighting for a principle and I will uphold it even if I have to resign from sports for the rest of my life.' Sondhi's comments made him extremely unpopular in Jakarta. Angry protests broke out against him, necessitating police protection, and when the mobs attacked the Indian embassy, he was forced to flee Indonesia. Two years later, India was one of the four participating teams when Israel hosted the Asian Cup football tournament. Israel won that competition, with India finishing second. By the 1970s, though, India's position hardened. Israel was not allowed to participate in the World Table Tennis Championship in Calcutta in 1975. Six years later, it was barred when the Asian Games Federation was reorganised into the Asian Olympic Council, which meant Israel could not take part in the 1982 Asian Games in Delhi. In 1986 again, India supported not letting Israel participate in the Seoul Asian Games. And the next year, it barred Israelis from competing in the World Table Tennis Championship in New Delhi. Cold welcome It was Vijay Amritraj who swung the needle in 1987. He convinced the Rajiv Gandhi government that the $10,000 fine and three-year suspension were too high a price for India to pay and therefore the Israeli tennis team should be allowed to participate in the Davis Cup tie in Delhi. The Palestinian Liberation Organization, which represented the Palestinian people, protested India's decision. Its leader Yasser Arafat made fervent appeals to not allow the tie, but it had no effect. The Jerusalem Post claimed in July 1987 that Arafat was 'concerned that the tournament could be the first move in a thawing of the chill that has characterized Israeli-Indian relations for almost 40 years'. But this was hardly the case. India's real motivations were well known to the Israeli authorities. 'The Indians are simply afraid of the stiff punishment imposed by the Lawn Tennis Association,' Zvi Meir, director of Israel's tennis governing body, told the Associated Press. When the Israeli tennis players landed in India, they found the welcome less than warm. The players were given restricted visas that were valid for two weeks and had to practice on grass courts in Britain before coming to India. India also did not allow Israeli fans to come and watch the matches in Delhi. Even those Israelis who managed to get Indian visas were denied entry in the lead-up to the tie. Fourteen Israeli tourists who were on a tour of the Far East were forced to spend a night in the transit lounge of the Delhi airport as their visas were revoked and they were denied entry a week ahead of the match. Israel's Foreign Minister Shimon Peres called the action 'scandalous'. Another group of 13 Israelis – comprising sports journalists and fans – chose not to attend the Davis Cup as their local contact in Delhi told them that India's Foreigners Regional Registration Office was withholding landing permits for Israeli groups, pending a blanket approval from the Home Ministry. Heightened security Security was stepped up across Delhi before the Davis Cup quarterfinals. The authorities were worried about potential attacks by Palestinians as well as student protests. At a time when this was not the norm, spectators were frisked at the stadium and had to pass metal detectors. On the same weekend that India was playing the quarterfinals against Israel, the United States was playing West Germany in a relegation tie. Boris Becker complained about the 'pro-American frenzy' in Hartford, Connecticut, and how his teammates felt like 'political prisoners in a foreign court'. The Los Angeles Times compared the atmosphere in Hartford with that in India. 'Boom Boom, you should have seen New Delhi,' the newspaper said. 'At New Delhi, site of the India-Israel Davis Cup quarterfinal, there were stun guns, sub-machine guns, sharpshooters posted on buildings, and blockades at every entrance.' There was, however, no tension on the court, at least for the Indian players. India won the tie 4-0 with its players not losing even a single set. Israel was counting on Amos Mansdorf, but the 21-year-old was no match for Krishnan or Amritraj. 'They never really knew how good I could, or had, played,' Amritraj told reporters after the match. 'Anand [his brother and doubles partner] said to me, 'You are from a different generation, so the young guys don't know you.' He [Mansdorf] was probably too young to have even been a ballboy at one of my matches.' While there were protests by students in the streets of Delhi, the crowds in the stadium were pleasant. 'They never let us forget it was still a tennis match,' Amritraj said. 'Our practice was not hampered. The crowds were no different during the match.' In October, India defeated the heavily-favoured Australia in Sydney and made it to the final in Gothenburg. Unfortunately, their opponent was a strong Swedish team featuring Mats Willander and Anders Järryd. India lost the final 5-0. Meanwhile, the relations between India and Israel remained patchy. In 1988, India was scheduled to play against Israel in Israel in the relegation round of the Davis Cup but the Indian government decided to boycott the tie because of 'Israel's repression of Palestinian protests in the occupied territories'. It made the decision after at least 100 Palestinians protestors were killed by Israeli troops in 1987-'88. Despite appeals by the Israel foreign ministry, which said it was the country's 'longstanding policy' that 'sports and politics should not be mixed', India went ahead with the boycott and got relegated. It would take the country another five years to get back to the elite World Group, when a new sensation by the name of Leander Paes powered India to an unlikely semifinal run by defeating Switzerland and France. India and Israel established full diplomatic relations on January 29, 1992.
Hans India
2 hours ago
- Hans India
Two-time Olympic medallist hockey forward Lalit Upadhyay retires
New Delhi: Veteran Indian hockey forward Lalit Upadhyay has called time on his illustrious international career, drawing curtains on over a decade-long journey that saw him be a part of the teams that won bronze medals in Tokyo and Paris Olympic Games. From making his debut at the 2014 World Cup to standing tall on the Olympic podium twice, Lalit's career is a time-line of some of Indian hockey's biggest milestones in the modern era. He was a crucial part of the squad that scripted history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, helping India clinch a long-awaited bronze medal, and repeated the feat at the Paris Games in 2024, reinforcing his reputation as a big-match player. 'This journey began in a small village, with limited resources but limitless dreams,' Lalit announced his decision through a heartfelt social media post shortly after India's final match of the European leg of the FIH Pro League 2024-25 season against Belgium on Sunday. 'From facing a sting operation to standing on the Olympic podium — not once, but twice -- it's been a path full of challenges, growth, and unforgettable pride,' Lalit posted. 'Becoming an Olympian from my city after 26 years is something I'll always carry with honor and gratitude,' he added. A natural play-maker with an uncanny knack for scoring goals, Lalit played 183 matches for India at the senior level, scoring 67 goals.
NDTV
3 hours ago
- NDTV
'It Will Be Big And Punchy': World Athletic President Sebastian Coe Looks To Future
Sebastian Coe has two years left as World Athletics president and it promises to be lively as he says next year's inaugural Ultimate Team Championship will remind the world the sport is "big and punchy and still there." The 68-year-old Englishman has shrugged off the disappointment of finishing third in the International Olympic Committee presidential election in March, telling AFP he is "not one for rear view mirrors. Concede and move on," he adds. Move on he certainly has. The old brio, dynamism and charm are all to the fore as he addresses the issues that will dominate the final leg of a 12-year tenure that -- like his Olympic gold medal-winning track career -- has never been dull. The World Championships arrive in September in Tokyo -- "a massive moment", Coe says, not least because there will be spectators unlike at the Covid-delayed 2020 Summer Olympics in the same stadium. "Everybody gets the emotional impact" of that, he added. Then attention switches to the Ultimate Team Championship, slated for September 11-13, 2026, in Budapest -- the city which hosted the 2023 world championships. Each session will last three hours and athletes will represent both themselves and their national teams, wearing national kit. "Next year is unashamedly aimed at TV," Coe told AFP in an interview following Friday's Paris Diamond League meet. "It's unashamedly aimed at unlocking new audiences. "So we go from '24 where we have a big global audience in the Olympic Games to '25 which are world championships. "2026 now gives us, in September, an opportunity for the world to remember we're big and punchy and still there." Another former track great, Michael Johnson, had wanted to make just such an impact with his Grand Slam series this year. However, it failed to sparkle and the fourth and final stop in Los Angeles was cancelled. Coe says just as World Athletics learn from their events, so will Grand Slam. "We want to be enablers. I'm not the 'computer says no' federation," said Coe. "We want to encourage fresh thinking and fresh income into this sport. "I've been involved in startups, it's complicated. But execution is everything." Impossible to be neutral Coe says those who suffer from any fallout are the athletes, who he has striven to enrich as much as possible. To that end the Ultimate Team Championship will boast a record-setting prize pot of $10 million (9.6 million euros) -- "everybody will pick up something." World Athletics' decision to sanction awarding prize money to Olympic gold medallists in Paris last year did not win Coe many friends in the International Olympic Committee hierarchy or among the federation chiefs of other sports. However, he remains undeterred. "Prize money and improving the lot of the athletes in the next few years is really, really important," said Coe. "Although prize money wasn't flavour of the month in Lausanne (where the IOC is based), we are going to drive ahead on that." Coe says he has always battled for athletes' financial well-being. He and former IOC president Thomas Bach -- who handed over power to Kirsty Coventry on Monday -- co-wrote a speech he delivered to the 1981 IOC Congress raising the topic. Coe says the idea for the Paris prize money came to him on a long-haul flight to New York in February 2024, and he rang Abby Hoffmann, a WA Council member, from a book shop asking her opinion about his "crazy idea." "She replied I think you should take more long-haul flights, and that was how it came about." Coe says it is only fair when one considers the wealth of the IOC. "They're competing in a movement that has billions of dollars," said Coe. "It's a bit like Taylor Swift being the only person not being paid at the concert, but the volunteers and the janitors and the concessions and everybody else is doing OK out of it." Coe and WA's decision to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes over the invasion of Ukraine was another area where he and Bach disagreed. That ban remains in place, although Coe concedes if a peace agreement is reached then it is not for sport to stand in the way of the Russians' return. The conflict, though, has left its mark on Coe after a visit he paid to Ukraine. "When you get to Kyiv (train station), there's probably 50 or 60 ambulances and hearses waiting on the platform. "Families waiting for the news. They have two carriages, mobile operating theatres and intensive care units, where amputations are taking place as the train's coming back. "So, sorry, it's not something I could ever really be neutral about." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
