You're listening to the BBC World Service from London. This is Owen Bennett Jones with Newshour.

The International Olympic Committee has elected Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe as its new president.

She is the first woman to take on the most powerful job in world sport. She's previously been the

Minister of Sport in Zimbabwe. Well, yesterday we were hearing it was going to be a very close race,

but in fact, she was elected in the first round of a secret ballot, beating six other candidates.

Journalist Alex Capstick is in Greece covering the IOC meeting that held this election.

Well, more than 100 IOC members, this eclectic mix of royalty politicians, former athletes.

There's even an Oscar winning actress.

They were transported to southwest Greece on the coast of the Onion Sea in a luxury resort to make this decision today.

And as you were saying, it was supposed to be very, very close.

And it didn't turn out that way in what has been a huge day for the Olympic movement.

Now we are ready to start election time.

It was supposed to be an election of fine margins with three front runners,

Lord Sebastian Coe, one Antonio Samaranch and the only woman in the race, Zimbabes, Kirstie Coventry.

But it was all over after just one round of voting.

Dear friends and colleagues, the 144th IOC session has elected as the 10th President of the International Olympic Committee, Mrs. Kirstie Coventry.

With 49 votes, Kirstie Coventry's in Barwey's two-time Olympic champion secured the ultimate prize

and has become the IOC's first female president, the first from Africa, and at 41 years old, by far the youngest.

In many ways, it's an extraordinary moment, a new era for the Olympic movement, but not entirely unexpected, given her steady rise inside

the organisation ever since she became a member in 2013, and she doesn't want her success to be

solely attributed to her gender and nationality. I'm extremely proud of both of those

different identities that make up me. And I'm grateful as well to

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