The flames have been extinguished. For the first time in Olympic Winter Games history, two cauldrons were put out simultaneously: one in Milan, one in Cortina d'Ampezzo. And just like that, the XXV Olympic Winter Games came to a close in one of the most breathtaking settings sport has ever known.

The Closing Ceremony was held at the Arena di Verona; a nearly 2,000-year-old Roman amphitheatre that was hosting events when the Ancient Olympic Games were still being contested. The last time an ancient monument served as the stage for an Olympic ceremony was Athens in 1896. The theme was "Beauty in Action," and it delivered on that promise: Italian opera, ballet, a celebration of culture that reminded the world why we gather in the first place.
But for me, the beauty was in the numbers.

Nearly 2,900 athletes from 93 countries competed across 116 events. Norway led the medal table with 18 golds and 41 medals overall. The United States earned 33 medals, including 12 golds... our strongest Winter Games performance ever. Italy claimed 30 medals on home soil. Three nations competed at the Winter Games for the first time: Benin, Guinea-Bissau, and the United Arab Emirates. Brazil won its first Winter Olympic medal ever: a gold in Alpine skiing. Ski mountaineering made its Olympic debut, expanding what it means to be a winter sport.

And this was the most gender-balanced Winter Olympics in history. Women made up 47 percent of the athletes. There were 50 women's events on the programme; a record. Twelve of sixteen disciplines achieved full gender parity. When I began advocating for women's inclusion on the IOC Executive Board in the 1990s, these numbers were unimaginable. Now they are the starting line for the next push toward full equality.

These were also Kirsty Coventry's first Games as IOC President. She rose to the moment beautifully: praising the athletes as "brave, fearless, full of heart and passion," honoring the volunteers who brought warmth to every venue, and guiding the handover of the Olympic flag to the French Alps 2030 with grace and vision. I have watched many IOC Presidents navigate the complex demands of hosting an Olympic Games. Kirsty demonstrated that the future of the Olympic movement is in excellent hands....

The Paralympic Winter Games open on March 6, right there in the Verona Arena. Around 665 athletes will compete in 79 events across six sports. The Games are not over; they are simply entering their next chapter.

Sport belongs to everyone. Milano Cortina proved it once again.

#MilanoCortina2026 #ClosingCeremedy #WinterOlympics #OlympicGames #BeautyInAction #VeronaArena #IOC #KirstyCoventry #GenderEquality #WomenInSport #Paralympics #FrenchAlps2030 #OlympicLegacy #SportBelongsToEveryone #TeamUSA #OlympicMovement #ParalympicWinterGames

On February 22, Team USA defeated Canada 2-1 in overtime to win the men's ice hockey gold medal at Milano Cortina 2026. It was the first American men's hockey gold since Lake Placid.

1980.

That year lives in my bones. It was the year I was supposed to compete in my second Olympic Games in Moscow. I was in the best shape of my rowing career. Our team was ready. And then our government decided that we would not go; that American athletes would pay the price for a political dispute between nations.

I filed suit against the United States Olympic Committee. I believed then, and I believe now, that athletes have a fundamental right to compete. The courts did not rule in our favor. But the IOC recognized the effort with the Bronze Medal of the Olympic Order, and the principle endured: athletes should never be used as political pawns.

While I was fighting that battle in 1980, a group of young American hockey players were doing something no one thought possible on the ice at Lake Placid. They defeated the Soviet Union and went on to win gold in what the world would call "The Miracle on Ice."

Forty-six years later, in a packed arena in Milan, Jack Hughes scored in overtime to give the United States another men's hockey gold. The women's team did the same thing just days earlier: defeating Canada 2-1 in overtime for their own gold medal. Two overtime victories. Two golden moments. One nation.

Here is what connects these stories across 46 years: the conviction that athletes deserve their moment. That sport, at its finest, produces outcomes no one can predict. That when you let people compete, extraordinary things happen.
The 1980 boycott stole that chance from 461 American athletes, including me. But sport endures. The flame keeps burning. And sometimes... 46 years later... you get your miracle.

~Anita

#TeamUSA #MilanoCortina2026 #IceHockey #MiracleOnIce #OlympicGold #1980Boycott #AthletesRights #WinterOlympics #OlympicHistory #USA #SportBelongsToEveryone #Hockey #OvertimeGold #LakePlacid #OlympicMovement

On February 6, I carried the Olympic flame through the streets of Milan; and then I placed it into the hands of Kirsty Coventry, President of the International Olympic Committee.

I have had many extraordinary moments in my Olympic life. I stood up for athletes' rights in 1980 when it cost me my own chance to compete. I helped plan Olympic Villages in 1984. I served on the IOC Executive Board for many years and was the first woman elected Vice President. But, this moment in Milan was something different; something I had worked toward without fully knowing it.

When I began my work in Olympic governance nearly four decades ago, the idea of a woman leading the IOC was not part of anyone's serious conversation. We were fighting just to be in the room. We were fighting for women's events to be added to the programme. We were fighting for a seat at the table where decisions about sport's future were made.

Now, having a woman President of the IOC is exactly how the world should be.

Kirsty is a two-time Olympic gold medalist and a seven-time Olympic medalist in swimming. She understands what it means to push past limits....in the pool and in the boardroom. She is the right leader for this moment: thoughtful, courageous, committed to the athletes.

She said publicly that I "....led the way for female leaders in sports, globally." Those words mean the world to me. But the truth is: we all led the way. Every woman who fought to compete, every woman who insisted on being heard in governance, every woman who refused to accept that sport was not for her.

The Olympic flame is a symbol of continuity. It connects ancient Olympia to every host city, every generation, every athlete who carries the dream of peaceful competition. Handing that flame to Kirsty was not just a personal moment between two women who love sport. It was a symbol of what becomes possible when we refuse to accept limits on who can lead.

Sport belongs to everyone. It always has. Now the world is beginning to understand that leadership in sport does too.

~ Anita

CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS FROM THE EVENT HERE:
https://www.olympics.com/ioc/news/olympic-torch-relay-emotional-handover-from-women-in-sport-trailblazer-anita-defrantz-to-ioc-president-kirsty-coventry

#OlympicTorchRelay #MilanoCortina2026 #WomenInLeadership #IOC #KirstyCoventry #OlympicFlame #WomenInSport #SportBelongsToEveryone #OlympicMovement #PassingTheTorch #WinterOlympics2026 #GenderEquality #OlympicLegacy

In a few weeks, the Olympic flame will enter San Siro Stadium in Milan for the Opening Ceremony of Milano Cortina 2026.
It will be a night of pageantry, of national anthems, of athletes marching behind their flags. But for those of us who have spent our lives in the Olympic Movement, it will also be something more.

It will be the first Olympic Games under the leadership of Kirsty Coventry.

I have thought often about what this moment represents. Kirsty was a nine-year-old girl in Zimbabwe when she watched the Barcelona Olympics and decided she wanted to compete. She went on to become the most decorated African Olympian in history: seven medals, two gold, across five Games. She chaired the IOC Athletes' Commission. She served as Zimbabwe's Minister of Sport.

And on March 20, 2025, she shattered a ceiling that had stood for 131 years.

The International Olympic Committee, founded in 1894, had been led by nine presidents. All men. Eight Europeans. One American. When Kirsty received 49 votes on the first ballot, she became the first woman and the first African to hold the position.

Now she will preside over her first Games.

The torch has been traveling across Italy since November, carried by 10,001 bearers through 300 towns. On February 6th, it arrives in Milan. And when Kirsty Coventry welcomes the world to these Winter Games, she will do so as a symbol of how far we have come... and a reminder of how much further we can go.

Later this year, Africa will host its first-ever Olympic event: the Youth Olympic Games in Dakar, Senegal. A continent that has produced champions for generations will finally welcome the world to compete on its soil.

As Kirsty said in her New Year's message: "These Games represent so much for Africa. They will inspire the next generation and open doors of opportunity across our continent and beyond."

The Olympic Movement is evolving. And we are watching history unfold.

Milano Cortina 2026. February 6th.

On January 14th, registration opened for LA28 Olympic tickets.

I read those words and felt time fold in on itself.

In 1984, I served as Vice President of the Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, responsible for planning the Olympic Villages. I remember the months of preparation, the impossible logistics, the quiet moments wondering if we could truly pull it off. And then the Games arrived... and Los Angeles became the center of the world.

That summer changed everything. The surplus from those Games created the LA84 Foundation, where I would spend nearly three decades investing over $250 million in youth sports across Southern California. One Games. Generations of impact.
Now the Olympics are returning to Los Angeles. And for the first time, fans worldwide can take their first step toward being part of it.

What strikes me most about the LA28 ticketing announcement is the commitment to accessibility. One million tickets priced at $28. A third of all tickets under $100. A locals presale for Southern California and Oklahoma residents. A fundraising initiative to put free tickets directly into the hands of community organizations.

This matters. The Olympic Games should not be reserved for those who can afford premium experiences. They belong to the grandmother who wants to show her grandchild what athletic excellence looks like. To the young athlete dreaming of one day standing on that same field. To the family saving for years to witness history together.

Sport belongs to everyone. And LA28 is building a Games that reflects that truth.

If you have ever dreamed of attending the Olympics, this is your moment. Register at tickets.la28.org.

I will see you there.

Friends, colleagues, and family: This month, we honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dr. King spoke of the "fierce urgency of now." He warned against the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. He understood that justice delayed is justice denied.

I think about these words often in my work.

When I filed suit against the United States Olympic Committee in 1980, seeking to let athletes decide for themselves whether to compete in Moscow, I was told to wait. To be patient. That politics would sort itself out. But athletes' dreams do not wait. Careers measured in years, sometimes months, do not wait. The moment passes, and it does not return.

Dr. King knew this. He knew that those who benefit from the status quo will always counsel patience to those who suffer under it.

Sport has long been a frontier of the civil rights movement. Jesse Owens in Berlin. Tommie Smith and John Carlos in Mexico City. Muhammad Ali refusing induction. Billie Jean King demanding equal prize money. Arthur Ashe speaking truth about apartheid. Each of them was told to keep politics out of sport. Each of them understood that there is no such thing as neutral ground when human dignity is at stake.

And today, as we prepare to welcome the world to Los Angeles in 2028, I am reminded that the Games themselves are unfinished work. The Olympic Movement has made progress: equal numbers of men and women now compete; our first woman President leads the IOC; athletes from more nations participate than ever before. But access remains unequal. Resources remain concentrated. Too many young people still cannot reach the starting line.

Dr. King dreamed of a beloved community. In sport, we call it something simpler: a level playing field.

It's not perfect yet. But, we keep building.

Today, I honor Dr. King not with words alone, but with renewed commitment to the work that remains.

The urgency is still fierce. The time is still now.

Happy Martin Luther King, Junior Day!

- Anita

#MLKDay #MartinLutherKingJr #MLK #CivilRights #DrKing #SocialJustice #HumanRights #EndHumanTrafficking #SportForAll #LA28 #OlympicMovement #EqualityInSport #JusticeDelayedIsJusticeDenied #FierceUrgencyOfNow #BelovedCommunity

Welcome, 2026!

Happy New Year!

The Olympic flame is burning. Milano Cortina awaits. Los Angeles is on the horizon.

IOC President Coventry steers the ship of the Olympic Games and the Movement into the future.

2026 is going to be extraordinary.

Let's go! 

As we close the final chapter of 2025, I find myself reflecting on a year that will be remembered as a turning point....not just for sport, but for what sport represents.

On March 20th, in Costa Navarino, Greece, the International Olympic Committee elected Kirsty Coventry as its 10th President. With 49 votes on the first ballot, the seven time Olympic swimming medalist from Zimbabwe shattered a ceiling that had stood for 131 years. She became the first woman and the first African to lead the Olympic Movement.

I watched that moment with tears in my eyes.

For those of us who have spent decades working within the Olympic family, pushing for greater representation, advocating for voices too long unheard... this was not simply an election. It was a declaration. As Kirsty said that day: "This is a signal that we are truly global."

And she has wasted no time proving it.

Within months of taking office on June 23rd, President Coventry launched the "Fit for the Future" initiative, a comprehensive reassessment of how the IOC listens, decides, and moves forward. She established four working groups addressing the most pressing challenges facing our Movement: the Olympic program, the Youth Olympic Games, commercial partnerships, and the protection of women's sport. She appointed Allyson Felix, Sebastian Coe, and other leaders to guide this work. She paused. She listened. She built consensus.

This is leadership.

Earlier this month, President Coventry chaired her first Olympic Summit in Lausanne, where the Movement reaffirmed a principle I have championed my entire career: athletes have a fundamental right to access sport free from political interference. Youth athletes should never be held accountable for the actions of their governments. Sport is their access to hope.

In November, I watched as President Coventry stood in Ancient Olympia for the lighting of the Milano Cortina 2026 flame: her first as President. The torch now travels across Italy, carried by 10,001 bearers through 300 towns, on its way to Milan for the Opening Ceremony on February 6th.

But 2025 was remarkable beyond the Olympic Movement.

This was the year women's sport commanded center stage. England retained their UEFA Women's European Championship in a penalty shootout watched by record audiences. India won their first Women's Cricket World Cup. The Women's Rugby World Cup captivated fans around the globe. A'ja Wilson became the first WNBA player to win regular-season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season. Coco Gauff claimed her second Grand Slam title at the French Open.

This was the year records fell. Alexander Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky's all-time NHL goal record at age 39. Rory McIlroy finally won the Masters, completing his career Grand Slam after a decade of heartbreak. Noah Lyles won his fourth consecutive 200-meter world title, tying Usain Bolt. Shohei Ohtani delivered perhaps the greatest single postseason performance in baseball history: three home runs and 10 strikeouts in one game.

This was the year sport reminded us what perseverance looks like.

And this was the year the road to Los Angeles 2028 became undeniably real. Ticket registration opens January 14th. Volunteer programs are building our community. The Games are coming home to California.

I think about the nine year old Kirsty Coventry, watching the Barcelona Olympics on television in Zimbabwe, dreaming of one day competing. I think about the nine year old girls watching her now; seeing someone who looks like them leading the most powerful organization in world sport.

That is what 2025 gave us. Possibility made visible.

Sport belongs to everyone. And everyone, finally, can see themselves in its highest positions.

Here's to the year ahead. May we continue to build a Movement worthy of the athletes who inspire us.

Happy New Year.

Merry Christmas to all!

This morning, I find myself reflecting on what makes the holiday season meaningful: the people who show up for one another. The coaches who arrive early and stay late. The volunteers who keep youth programs running through the winter. The families who make sacrifices so their children can discover sport.

In rowing, we often say that no one succeeds alone; the boat moves because everyone pulls together. That truth extends far beyond the water. Every championship moment begins somewhere quiet: a community center, a boathouse, a neighborhood park where someone believed in a young person's potential.

As we gather with loved ones today, let us also remember those who may be alone and those for whom this season carries hardship. May we find ways to extend the warmth of community to everyone around us.

To all who have been part of my journey this year... thank you. Your support means more than you know.

Wishing you peace, joy, and the warmth of connection.

#MerryChristmas #Community #SportForAll #GratefulHeart #HolidaySeason #LA2028 #OlympicSpirit #Youth Sports #ServiceToOthers #ChristmasReflections

From 1976 to 2028: Witnessing the Evolution of Women's Sports at the Olympic Games

​I still remember the feeling of stepping onto the water in Montreal in 1976. I was 23 years old, a law student with calloused hands and a dream that, just four years earlier, wouldn't have been possible in quite the same way. Title IX had passed in 1972; women's rowing wouldn't become an Olympic sport until that very year. The timing of my athletic career intersected with a legal revolution, though we didn't fully understand the scope of what was beginning.

Today, as we approach the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, I find myself reflecting on what has changed and what that change actually cost in terms of time, advocacy, and stubborn persistence.
​
For the first time in Olympic history, LA 2028 will feature more female athletes than male athletes. Every team sport will have equal or greater numbers of women's teams compared to men's. When I read those sentences, I have to pause. Not because the milestone isn't significant, but because of how long it has taken to get here.

The Early Years: Policy Without Infrastructure
Title IX gave us legal standing, but laws on paper don't build boathouses or fund coaching positions. In the mid-1970s, we were fighting for access to training facilities, for equal practice times, for the basic recognition that women's athletic programs deserved institutional support. The law said we had rights; reality said we had to prove we were worth the investment.

I've spent nearly four decades as a member of the International Olympic Committee, including 17 years on the Executive Board. Much of that work centered on a simple principle: if women aren't in the room when decisions are made, those decisions will continue to overlook women's needs. Representation in governance isn't a symbolic gesture. It's how policy becomes practice.

When I was elected the first woman Vice President of the IOC, people asked what it meant. Here's what it meant: women athletes finally had someone at the executive level who understood, from lived experience, what it takes to train, compete, and advocate for yourself when the systems aren't built with you in mind.

Governance as the Architecture of Change
The shift from 1976 to 2028 didn't happen through goodwill alone. It happened through specific governance decisions: adding women's events to the Olympic program, enforcing gender equity requirements for National Olympic Committees, creating athlete commissions that gave competitors a voice in the policies that governed their sports.

These sound like administrative details. They are administrative details. But administrative details are where progress either takes root or dies on the vine.

When we worked to bring the Games back to Los Angeles, sustainability and fiscal responsibility were part of the pitch. So was equity. LA 2028's commitment to gender parity in team sports didn't happen by accident; it was negotiated, planned, and built into the framework from the beginning. That's what governance does when it's done with intention.

The Larger Context: Sports as a Mirror
The evolution of women's sports at the Olympic Games reflects broader societal shifts, but it also drives them. When young people see women competing at the highest levels, when they see female athletes celebrated and compensated, when they witness women in leadership positions within sports organizations, it changes what they believe is possible for themselves.

I've seen this firsthand through my work with the LA84 Foundation, which distributed more than $250 million to youth sports organizations over the years I served as president. The organizations that thrived were the ones that understood: access creates opportunity, and opportunity creates the next generation of leaders.

But access alone isn't enough if the pathway remains prohibitively narrow. Rowing, the sport that gave me so much, still struggles with its reputation as exclusive and expensive. That's why I continue to say that rowing belongs to everyone, and we need everyone to take part. The same principle applies across all sports. Infrastructure, coaching, equipment, visibility: these are the building blocks that determine who gets to compete and who gets left out.

What 2028 Represents
LA 2028 will be historic not just for the numbers, but for what those numbers represent. More female athletes means more events, more media coverage, more pathways for girls who are watching and dreaming about their own Olympic moments.

It also means we've reached a point where gender equity in sports is no longer a radical demand. It's an expectation. That shift in framing matters enormously.

Still, I'm cautious about declaring victory. The fact that we're celebrating "more female than male athletes" in 2028 tells you how recently the reverse was considered normal and unremarkable. The fact that it has taken this long tells you how entrenched resistance to change can be, even when the moral case is clear and the legal framework exists.

Looking Forward
I'll be honest: when I competed in 1976, I didn't imagine I'd spend the next five decades working on these issues. I thought the trajectory would be faster. I thought once the door opened, it would stay open.

What I've learned is that doors don't stay open on their own. Every generation has to walk through and then turn around and hold the door for the people coming behind them. That's the work.

LA 2028 represents progress, absolutely. But progress is a process, not a destination. The question isn't just "How many female athletes will compete?" The question is: What happens after the closing ceremony? How do we convert Olympic visibility into sustained investment in women's sports at every level? How do we ensure that the girls watching in 2028 have access to the coaching, facilities, and opportunities they need to become the Olympians of 2040?

Those are governance questions. They're infrastructure questions. They're questions about who holds power and how that power is used to build systems that serve everyone, not just the people who've always had access.

Fifty-two years from Montreal to Los Angeles. From fighting for a spot on the water to helping shape the future of the Games. I'm grateful for the progress we've made, and I'm clear-eyed about the work that remains.

The arena is bigger now. Let's make sure everyone can find their way in.

- Anita, November 2025