Bach relieved as IOC members show unity in presidential election

Costa Navarino (Greece), March 22 -- Outgoing International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said he was "very much relieved" to see IOC members unite behind Kirsty Coventry as they elected the Zimbabwean as his successor.

Coventry, 41, became the IOC's first female and first African president in its 130-year history after emerging victorious in the first round of voting on Thursday.

She won an overall majority in the secret ballot with 49 of the 97 available votes.

Bach said the fact the IOC's nine previous presidents had been eight Europeans and one American did not reflect the reality of a global organization like the IOC.

"I am very much relieved by the unity that the election result demonstrated," he told a press ...