[K-Women Talk] The First Female IOC Chair in History and Defending the Value of Diversity

After President Trump’s Inauguration,
Values of Gender Equality and Diversity Face Crisis
Coventry’s Leadership Brings New Hope

For the first time in the 130-year history of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), a woman has been elected as its chairperson. This is undoubtedly a historic event breaking another glass ceiling. The expansion of women's participation in sports is a measure of achieving gender equality. The ancient Olympics were strictly a festival for men only, and for women, who risked their lives just by watching, it was a forbidden barrier.

As we entered the modern era and sports became a part of daily life, there were still those excluded?namely, women. Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the father of the Olympics and an Enlightenment thinker, thoroughly excluded women from participating in the Olympics, and women's participation in sports was won through struggle. Through arduous battles, 22 female athletes first appeared at the 1900 Paris Olympics, making new history.

Starting with women making up only 2% of all athletes, achieving gender equality with 50% female participation at the 2024 Paris Olympics after more than a century is an astonishing progress. Equality has been achieved not only in the number of participants but also in the number of events, and men’s and women’s competitions were balanced in Olympic broadcasts. This remarkable achievement did not stop at athletes and events but extended to the IOC chairperson leading the world of sports, making it clear that the thickest glass ceiling in sports has truly been broken.

Behind these amazing achievements were great female athletes who inspired and moved the world. There was Wilma Rudolph, a Black woman who overcame polio and won three gold medals at the Olympics, and Nawel El Moutawakel, the first Muslim woman to win a gold medal. These great athletes ignited the value of diversity transcending race and religion, as well as equal human rights for women.

Included among the inspiring female athletes is Kirsty Coventry, the swimming hero from Zimbabwe who was elected as the new IOC chairperson. Coventry won a total of seven medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2008 Beijing Olympics, holding the record for the most Olympic medals won by an African swimmer. Born in 1983, the 41-year-old new chairperson Coventry will serve an initial term of eight years, which can be extended by four years unless special circumstances arise, leading the global sports community with new vision and youthful determination for up to 12 years. Building on the standards set by Thomas Bach, who made great achievements over the past 12 years in reforms to enhance the sustainability and transparency of the Olympics and mainstream gender equality and diversity in sports, Coventry is expected to take contributions to human progress through sports to the next level.

The role of the first female IOC chairperson in upholding the values of gender equality and diversity is especially noteworthy due to the challenges posed by Donald Trump’s second term. The values of gender equality and diversity, built over centuries with blood and sweat, are under threat, raising global concerns. On his inauguration day, President Trump abolished diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and dismissed staff responsible for DE work in various fields. He then issued guidelines banning the use of words related to diversity and equity such as “racism,” “gender equality,” “multiculturalism,” and “minorities” in official federal government documents, websites, and policy directives, shocking the world.

President Trump’s declaration to eliminate “woke culture” is not just an American issue but a deeply concerning matter that shakes universal values and norms agreed upon by the international community. International leaders in politics, culture, and sports must unite and fulfill their roles to prevent humanity from regressing. Coventry’s election as IOC chairperson not only breaks the glass ceiling to pave the way for more female leaders in the future but is also expected to play a crucial role in protecting diversity amid these international concerns.

Park Eun-ha, Former Ambassador to the United Kingdom