COSTA NAVARINO /Greece/, March 21. /TASS/. Newly-elected President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Kirsty Coventry has told the Sky Sports TV channel that she plans to discuss with a taskforce the return of Russian athletes to the international stage. "We are going to have that discussion with a collective group, as I said, with the taskforce," she stated in response to a question whether Russian athletes would be likely to take part in the 2026 Winter Olympics. On Thursday, representative of Zimbabwe Coventry was elected as IOC President in the first round of the vote. She will step into office on June 24, with Thomas Bach presiding over the committee until that. The election was held at the 144th session of the organization in Greece. Coventry is 41 years old. She is a two-time Olympic champion (2004, 2008) in the 200-meter backstroke. She also has three Olympic silver medals, one bronze medal and is a three-time world champion. She has been Zimbabwe’s Minister of Sport, Art and Recreation since 2018. Coventry has been a member of the IOC Executive Board since 2023, also having been a member from 2018-2021. Over this period, she served as Chairperson of the IOC Athletes' Commission.