Shocking moment Olympics president threatens PR team with the sack during press conference
Coventry endured a bizarre interlude in which she publicly blamed her media team for not informing her of a number of issues.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry shocked the media when she threatened "dismissal" to her team for failing to brief her on questions to expect.
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Ms Coventry snapped at her PR team, repeatedly saying "I was not aware" during a news conference, in response to questions about recent events.
She struggled to answer questions on FIFA president and IOC member, Gianni Infantino, joining Donald Trump's peace board; the potential for an Olympic Games in Germany in 2036 - exactly 100 years after the Nazi Olympics and developments on Russian systemic doping issues at the Sochi Winter Olympics.
The press conference on Friday took place on the same day German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that it would be inappropriate for the country to host the 2036 Olympics, as it would be exactly 100 years since the Games were hosted by Nazi Germany.
Asked for her response to these comments, Ms Coventry said: "Frankly, and I'm looking at my team because I was not aware that Germany had made any comments in and around 2036. So I don't really have an opinion on it."
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Asked about doping at the Sochi Games, Ms Coventry was forced to concede a lack of information again, and said: "OK, I'm really looking at my team and maybe someone needs to be dismissed because I'm not aware of that either. But I would be very interested to find out more about it."
Ms Coventry, who beat Lord Sebastian Coe to be named IOC president in March of last year, has been a very visible figure at the Winter Olympics.
She paid tribute to “a new kind of Winter Games" as she declared the Milan and Cortina edition closed on Sunday.
A spectacular, opera-themed ceremony at Verona’s 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre, once used for gladiatorial battles, hailed new heroes of skeleton and mixed team snowboard cross.
Ms Coventry told the Italian organising committee: “You delivered a new kind of Winter Games and set a new standard for the future.”
Her comment was pertinent given the ongoing discussion about the future of the Winter Olympics and the possibility of including a range of other sports not played on snow and ice.
The unprecedented geographical spread of the Milan and Cortina Games – which enabled many events to be staged amid true alpine settings – has been hailed by many as an alternative blueprint.
The ceremony concluded with the official handover to organisers of the next Winter Games in the French Alps in 2030, which are facing increasing scrutiny around time and money.
Ms Coventry, the successor to the previous president Thomas Bach, had a difficult first Games.
She presided over the decision to ban Ukrainian skeleton athlete Vladyslav Heraskevych, insisting his helmet, which honoured colleagues killed in the Russian invasion, broke rules on athlete expression.