India’s push toward winning the 2036 Olympics hosting contest seemed to stall a little on Thursday in the first big decision of Kirsty Coventry’s IOC presidency. Coventry paused the fast tracking of a preferred bidder — a signature policy of her predecessor and mentor Thomas Bach — in a concession to International Olympic Committee

IOC President Kirsty Coventry speaks during the Olympic presidential handover ceremony in Lausanne, Switzerland, on June 23, 2025. | Credit: Harold Cunningham/ Kirsty Coventry broke several barriers when she became the president of the International Olympic Committee on Monday,