PYLOS, Greece (Reuters) - The biggest name in the field and one of the favourites, Sebastian Coe headed into the IOC presidential race exuding confidence, yet the Briton suffered a heavy defeat as Zimbabwe's Kirsty Coventry took the prize in the first round of voting on Thursday.
Coe, who presided over the London 2012 Olympics organising committee, received eight of the 97 votes of the International Olympic Committee members while Coventry snatched a staggering 49 and Spain's Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr collected 28.
It was a sobering experience for the World Athletics chief, but Coe was gracious in defeat, congratulating a fellow athlete for winning the election.
"I'm absolutely delighted for Kirsty. And we've got an athlete at the head of the organisation. That's a good thing. We chatted actually about that only a couple of weeks ago and agreed that that would be the preferred outcome," the twice Olympic 1,500m champion told reporters.
"And that's what's happened. So I've congratulated her. She's got a huge job, but she will have the confidence of the athletes, and that's very important."
The 68-year-old would not be drawn into interpreting the vote, which saw him finish a distant third.
"It's very difficult to make any interpretation at the moment. I think what is pretty clear is that the athletes and the women members in particular supported her very strongly in the first round, and you know those things happen in elections," he said.
"Elections are not an exact science, believe me. So, you know, it's what it is. You know, I'm not going to sit there trying to dissect stuff on the back of a napkin."
Coe pledged to support Coventry, hailing a "historic" moment as the Zimbabwean became the first woman to be elected IOC president.
"I'm a member of the International Olympic Committee. She's the newly elected president. She deserves our support and she'll get it," he said.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Toby Davis)
