Five-time Olympian Kirsty Coventry will be heading to another Olympics-related event next October when she fills the roll of chef-de-mission for Zimbabwe team at the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires.
“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 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,” Coventry said, according to Olympic.org.
Coventry has kept busy since retiring from the sport this past fall. She has continued in her roll as a member of the IOC Athlete Commission while also serving on the Foundation Board of the World Anti-Doping Agency and taking a role with the International Surfing Association.
Coventry believes that the experience for athletes at the Youth Olympic Games could prove invaluable as up-and-coming athletes in all sports adjust to senior-level competition.
“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, according to Olympic.org.
“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 won seven Olympic medals in her career and thrice set the world record in the women’s 200 back while winning Olympic gold in the event in 2004 and 2008. She last competed at the Olympics in Rio, where she made the final of the 200 back.
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