COSTA NAVARINO, Greece -- Kirsty Coventry was elected president of the International Olympic Committee on Thursday, becoming the first woman and first African to get perhaps the biggest job in global sports.

The Zimbabwe sports minister and two-time Olympic swimming gold medalist got a stunning first-round win in the seven-candidate contest after voting by 97 IOC member on Thursday.

She gets an eight-year mandate into 2033 at just 41 -- youthful by the historical standards of the IOC.

Kirsty Coventry was elected as IOC President, over fellow presidential candidates HRH Prince Feisal Al Hussein, David Lappartient, Johan Eliasch, Juan Antonio Samaranch, Lord Sebastian Coe and Morinari Watanabe. pic.twitter.com/9S0F0z0PWm

IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) March 20, 2025

It was the most open and hard-to-call IOC presidential election in decades, with no clear front-runner before the vote. Many predicted an absolute majority could take several rounds of votes, but she got the exact total of 49 needed.

Coventry's win also was a victory for outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach, who has long been seen as promoting her as his successor. He did not use his right to vote.

"I will make all of you very, very proud and hopefully extremely confident in the decision you have taken," Coventry said in her acceptance speech. "Now we have got some work together."

Walking to the podium, she was congratulated and kissed on both cheeks by Juan Antonio Samaranch, her expected closest rival, who got 28 votes. Sebastian Coe, in third place, got just eight.

Also in the race were four presidents of sports governing bodies: Along with track and field's Coe, contenders included skiing's Johan Eliasch, cycling's David Lappartient, and gymnastics' Morinari Watanabe. Also contending was Prince Feisal al Hussein of Jordan.

Coventry will formally replace her mentor Bach on June 23 -- officially Olympic Day -- as the 10th IOC president in its 131-year history. Bach reached the maximum 12 years in office.

Key challenges for Coventry will be steering the Olympic movement through political and sporting issues toward the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles, including engaging in diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump.

Coventry's IOC will also need to find a host for the 2036 Summer Games, which could go to India or the Middle East.

The strongest candidates in a five-month campaign with tightly controlled rules drafted by the Bach-led IOC seemed to be Coventry, IOC vice president Samaranch and Coe.

Samaranch tried to follow his father, also Juan Antonio Samaranch, who was the IOC's seventh president from 1980 to 2001.

Coe aimed to add to a remarkable career of Olympic triumphs: A two-time Olympic gold medalist in the 1,500 meters, he led a bidding team for the 2012 London Olympics, then worked for the next seven years to head the organizing team of those widely praised Games.

It has been a stellar week for Bach, who greeted Coventry and shared warm smiles after her acceptance speech.

Bach was feted on Wednesday in an emotional start to the IOC annual meeting, getting lavish praise and the title of honorary president for life.

His hands-on executive-style presidency will deliver over a financially secure IOC, on track to earn more than $8 billion in revenue through the 2028 L.A. Olympics, and with a slate of future hosts through 2034: in Italy, the United States, France, Australia and finally the U.S. again, when the Winter Games return to Salt Lake City.

A signature Bach policy also has been gender parity, with equal quotas of men and women athletes at the 2024 Paris Olympics and giving a better balance of female members of the IOC and the executive board he chairs, which now has seven women among its 15 members, including Coventry.

Her win Thursday will only add to Bach's legacy for promoting women.

Coventry won back-to-back titles in 200-meters backstroke at the 2004 Athens Olympics and Beijing four years later. She joined the IOC in 2013, almost one year after a disputed athlete election at the London Olympics. Her place among the four athletes elected was eventually awarded after Court of Arbitration for Sport rulings against two opponents.

The next president can oversee the IOC making a statement choice for its host for the 2036 Summer Games.

"There is one and one only," Samaranch said on Wednesday when asked about challenges ahead. "We must concentrate [on] successful and relevant Olympic Games. The rest comes with success in the Games."

The voters in the exclusive invited club of IOC members include royal family members, former lawmakers and diplomats, business leaders, sports officials and Olympic athletes. Even an Oscar-winning actress, Michelle Yeoh.

Members voted without hearing further presentations from the candidates in an election that swung on a discreet network of friendships and alliances largely forged out of sight.

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Cooper Flagg says he is "pain-free" after suffering an ankle injury that kept him out of the majority of Duke's ACC tournament championship run, and he expects to be fully healthy for the Blue Devils' NCAA tournament opener against Mount St. Mary's on Friday.

The Duke star rolled his ankle in the first half against Georgia Tech on March 13, but Flagg said he went through a full practice Wednesday and expects no issues when he takes the court for his first NCAA tournament game.

"We've been working through the steps of just getting back to 100 percent, and I feel very good," Flagg said Thursday. "I'm very confident moving forward."

Coach Jon Scheyer said Flagg wanted to play in the ACC tournament, but Duke's staff wanted to proceed cautiously. Flagg did not go through warmups before any of the Blue Devils' game last weekend, but he moved without issue on the sideline and didn't require any protective footwear.

"He's been itching to get out there," Scheyer said. "I think that says a lot about who he is because a lot of guys would be more patient or not as anxious to get out there. That's just not the way he's wired, his family, everybody with them."

Flagg said he has dealt with minor ankle injuries frequently, but he knew immediately that this one was a bit more severe. He exited the game, Duke's ACC tournament opener, and had an MRI and X-rays that both showed no significant damage. Flagg said he spent the next week working with Duke's training staff on a rehabilitation program aimed at having him fully healthy for the NCAA tournament.

"From the start of the week, it was kind of like a buildup of jumping back into practice, getting back to 100 percent, doing some individual things with some of the coaches on the side," Flagg said. "Then I was back at full practice [Wednesday]."

Flagg said he went through that practice without issues and had "100 percent full mobility."

Scheyer wasn't quite so cheerful in his diagnosis but agreed that Flagg was moving without any limitations.

"This is about him being able to move properly," Scheyer said. "He wasn't going to play if he was compensating. No matter what, an ankle sprain, to say he's 100 percent [for Friday], he has to work through that a little bit still. But he's not compensating."

Even without Flagg -- and forward Maliq Brown, who is out with a separated shoulder -- Duke rolled through the ACC tournament, knocking off Louisville by 11 in the final. Duke used its length on defense, though center Khaman Maluach said that was simply a greater focus on something the Blue Devils had already been doing all season.

"It didn't matter that the lineup changed. We were just us and still played our normal basketball," Maluach said. "[But] I was happy that [Flagg] was out there practicing, getting back one step at a time. I'm excited to see him play."

Flagg is averaging 18.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.1 assists and was a consensus All-American.

Scheyer was cautious in his evaluation of Brown's possible return. The junior will not likely see action in the opening weekend, but Scheyer said Brown is eager to contribute. Should the Blue Devils make a deeper run, there's a chance he could return for later games.

"I don't know if that's going to happen," Scheyer said, "but that's his mindset, that's our mindset to do everything we can to just give it a chance if we can continue to progress in this tournament."

The wait is finally over: March Madness tips off with Day 1 of the men's 2025 NCAA tournament -- and we're here to track all the action.

We have more than 12 hours of hoops in store, including the No. 1 overall seed -- the Auburn Tigers, led by player of the year candidate Johni Broome -- not to mention a matchup for future Hall of Fame coaches in Arkansas' John Calipari and Kansas' Bill Self.

Whether you're watching all 16 first-round games or refreshing score pages, consider this your guide to all the major highlights and results, along with reactions and on-site reporting from ESPN writers across the country.

Jump to: Full schedule | Live updates

(16) Alabama State vs. (1) Auburn, 2:50 p.m. (CBS)
(12) McNeese vs. (5) Clemson, 3:15 p.m. (truTV)
(11) VCU vs. (6) BYU, 4:05 p.m. (TNT)
(9) Georgia vs. (8) Gonzaga, 4:30 p.m. (TBS)
(15) Wofford vs. (2) Tennessee, 6:50 p.m. (TNT)
(10) Arkansas vs. (7) Kansas, 7:10 p.m. (CBS)
(13) Yale vs. (4) Texas A&M, 7:25 p.m. (TBS)
(11) Drake vs. (6) Missouri, 7:35 p.m. (truTV)
(10) Utah State vs. (7) UCLA, 9:25 p.m. (TNT)
(15) Omaha vs. (2) St. John's, 9:45 p.m. (CBS)
(12) UCSD vs. (5) Michigan, 10 p.m. (TBS)
(14) UNCW vs. (3) Texas Tech, 10:10 p.m. (truTV)

LOS ANGELES -- Lakers star Luka Doncic will not play Thursday against the Milwaukee Bucks as he continues to manage a sprained right ankle, sources told ESPN.

The Bucks game is the second night of a back-to-back for L.A., after the Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 120-108 on Wednesday. Doncic played on the ankle, pouring in 31 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists in 32 minutes.

Thursday also marks the end of a taxing stretch of the schedule during which L.A. will have played six games in eight days -- the only team in the NBA this season to play that many games in so few days due to a makeup game against the San Antonio Spurs that was postponed from January because of the L.A. wildfires.

The Lakers have gone 3-2 through the first five games. Doncic sat out one other game during the stretch -- L.A.'s 131-126 loss to Denver last week -- because of a right ankle sprain and left calf injury management.

The Lakers are No. 3 in the Western Conference with 14 games remaining.

LeBron James (left groin strain) and Rui Hachimura (left knee tendinopathy) are both out against the Bucks too.

When asked what the Lakers' goals should be between now and the playoffs, other than playoff seeding, Jarred Vanderbilt pointed to the roster getting whole.

"Getting healthy," Vanderbilt said. "S---, that would be No. 1. Getting healthy. Getting rest with this stretch. And try to get some reps together. The main thing is getting healthy so we can try to keep building our chemistry."

SAN DIEGO -- Jake Peavy, the 2007 NL Cy Young Award winner and member of the San Diego Padres Hall of Fame, has joined the team as special assistant to CEO Erik Greupner.

Greupner said Thursday the three-time All-Star will assist multiple departments and serve as a team ambassador.

"I'm incredibly appreciative of this opportunity to reunite with my Padres family," Peavy said in a statement. "San Diego has always held a special place in my heart. I'm a Padre through and through -- from the moment I was drafted by the team until this very day, and I can't wait to work alongside this talented group and contribute in any way I can to the success of this great organization."

Peavy, inducted into the team Hall of Fame in 2023, won 19 games with a 2.54 ERA and 240 strikeouts in his Cy Young-winning season. He was 92-68 with a 3.29 ERA and 1,348 strikeouts in 212 starts with the team from 2002-09.

Peavy was selected by the Padres in the 15th round of the 1999 amateur draft. He also pitched for the Chicago White Sox, Boston and San Francisco and retired after the 2016 season with a 152-126 record and 3.63 ERA over 15 seasons.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Houston Astros pitcher Luis Garcia was scratched from a batting practice session Thursday because of right elbow soreness, another setback in his attempt to return from Tommy John surgery in May 2023.

Garcia will be evaluated by team doctors, according to manager Joe Espada.

A right-hander who turned 28 in December, Garcia made a pair of minor league starts last year, throwing 12 pitches in a perfect inning for the Florida Complex League Astros on June 28, then throwing 31 pitches while allowing a pair of two-run homers during 1 1/3 innings for Double-A Corpus Christi on July 4.

He reached 94 mph but the Astros then ended his rehab assignment. While Garcia threw bullpens and batting practice he did not resume rehab appearances.

Eligible for arbitration, Garcia agreed in January to a one-year contract for $1,875,000 that matched his 2024 salary.

Houston hoped he would pitch for the Astros by May and provide starting pitching depth along with Lance McCullers Jr., who is returning from elbow surgery in June 2023. The Astros expect McCullers will pitch for them by late April.

Garcia moved from Class A to the majors in 2020 and is 28-19 with a 3.61 ERA in 63 starts and six relief appearances from 2020-23. He pitched for Venezuela in the 2023 World Baseball Classic.

Varney, who was born in Wales but qualifies for the Azzurri through his mother, made his debut for the Azzuri in a 2020 Autumn Nations Cup clash against Scotland. He has since made 32 appearances for the national side.

The move will see him link up with Ross Vintcent, another Italian international.

Varney left for France after first-team opportunities at Gloucester dried up following the signing of Wales scrum-half Tomos Williams midway through the 2023-24 season.

Rob Baxter, Chiefs director of rugby, said Varney is "still developing".

"He's a young player who at just 23 has already played a lot of rugby," he said.

"He's still developing as a player and moving towards what will be his prime years both physically and mentally as he keeps playing the level of rugby he is currently playing at.

"He's got a very good set of basic, core skills around quality of kicking and passing as well as the tempo he can bring into the game.

"We've been very impressed with him in the meetings we've had, and he's a guy who is very much on the upward curve in terms of his own performance."

Prior to Varney's confirmation, Rob Baxter dismissed rumours the Chiefs new scrum-half would be Jake Gordon, after he admitted in February the Australian would "fit the bill".

"We're going to be making an announcement on the scrum-half position, and no, it won't be Jake Gordon," he said.