Coventry leads Team Zimbabwe at Youth Olympics Games

Kirsty Coventry will be the chef-de-mission for Team Zimbabwe at the 2018 Youth Olympics Games which will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October.

SEVEN times Olympic gold medallist, Kirsty Coventry will be leading the Zimbabwean team at the Youth Olympics Games (YOG) to be held Buenos Aires, Argentina in October this year.

Coventry’s retirement from top-level sport following the Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil 2016 has not signalled the end of her involvement in the Olympic Movement.

The swimming icon says she was honoured to lead her country and feels that it was the right step for her to take after hanging up her goggles for good two years ago.

In a post on her Twitter account last Friday, Coventry said: “I’ll be leading #TeamZimbabwe at the @youtholympics in October (Buenos Aires) and have been in Argentina for a week with over 200 other Chef de Missions from around the world.  The energy and passion for this youth platform has been incredible! Next stop: Switzerland.”

The same message was posted on her Facebook page on the same day.

With seven Olympic medals to her name, Coventry is the most decorated Olympian from Africa. She won the 200 metres backstroke gold medal in 2004 and 2008. The swimmer also won four silver medals during the same period – two were won in the 100m backstroke in 2004 and 2008 and another two under the 200m and 400m Individual Medley (IM) finals in 2008. Coventry also won a bronze in the 200 m IM during the 2008 edition.

YOG are an elite sporting event for young people from all over the world aged between 14 and 18. These games are distinct from other youth sports events, as they also integrate Culture and Education Programme (CEP), based around five main themes: Olympism, Social Responsibility, Skills Development, Expression and Well-being and Healthy Lifestyles.

In an interview posted on olympic.org following her appointment as Chef de Mission of the Zimbabwe team, Coventry said: “This feels like a really natural progression from one thing into the next. For me, it was about figuring out how I could be a support to the athletes and then this position came up so it was good timing. I was super-excited to get it.”

“I felt like this would be a great opportunity to spend some time with up-and-coming athletes and, for me, I think that having been a part of the International Olympic Committee (as the IOC Athletes Commission Representative on the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency) for the past few years and having gone to the YOG, this seemed something that I would hopefully be able to add some value to in terms of helping the athletes achieve their goals.”

The young Zimbabwean athletes could not have hoped for a more qualified chef-de-mission. Coventry won everything there is to win in her discipline; over the course of her 16 year international career picking up 20 world championship and Olympic medals.

“I believe that this experience will be extremely important for the young athletes. I think it’s a very good stepping-stone to help them try to understand the magnitude of the Olympic Games because it’s just such a massive thing. I remember at my first Olympic Games being quite overwhelmed and thinking: ‘Oh my gosh, this is absolutely huge’. You’re in the Village with athletes from all these different sports and all these sporting icons and heroes which is very different,” she said.

“The YOG will also help them understand the pressure that comes with representing your country at the top level. I think it’s really important for them to go there and learn about what major events are like so that by the time they get to the next level which is the World Championships or the Olympic Games, they have the confidence of knowing what they need to do and how they need to prepare in order to do well,” Coventry said.

The sports programme is based on that of the Olympic Games, with 28 sports featured on the summer programme and seven on the winter programme.  Away from the field of play and through a variety of fun and interactive activities, workshops and team-building exercises, the CEP gives the participating athletes the opportunity to learn about the Olympic values, explore other cultures and develop the skills to become true ambassadors of their sport.