C OSTA NAVARINO, Greece — Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday and became the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in world sports. “It is a signal that we are truly global,” the Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist said.

Kirsty Coventry has been elected as the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), becoming the first woman and African to ever be elected to the position.

The International Olympic Committee elected its first female president Thursday by choosing Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry on a first vote. Coventry, 41, long has been seen as a favorite of outgoing president Thomas Bach and will become the 10th president in the IOC’s 131-year history.