By Crime and Courts Reporter-Sport minister Kirsty Coventry’s parents have been robbed.
Robert Edwin, and Lyn Coventry’s affluent suburb of Glen Lorne, Harare, was this week robbed by armed robbers making off with valuables worth an estimated US$90,000 in a daring heist.
According to reports, two masked men brandishing weapons forced their way into the Coventry residence, where they overpowered the couple and bound their legs with shoelaces.
The robbers then ransacked the house, looting a staggering haul that included US$15,000 in cash, jewellery valued at US$60,000, Olympic-branded clothing, travel bags, three hair dryers, hearing aids worth US$5,000, and three high-powered hunting firearms.
Police have yet to issue an official statement on the incident, which comes amid a worrying surge in armed robbery cases across Zimbabwe in recent years.
The rising trend is partly blamed on economic instability, forcing businesses and individuals to store large sums of cash outside the formal banking system due to growing distrust in financial institutions.
Kirsty Coventry, Zimbabwe’s most decorated Olympian, is best known for her remarkable achievements in swimming.
She won seven Olympic medals, including two golds, making her the most successful African female swimmer in history.
She also holds multiple world records and has represented Zimbabwe with distinction at five Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016).
Following her retirement from competitive swimming, Coventry transitioned into sports administration and politics.
In 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed her Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts, and Recreation.
In this role, she has pushed for greater investment in grassroots sports, the revival of Zimbabwe’s football program, and reforms to improve the country’s athletics and arts sectors.
Coventry has also served as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and chaired the IOC Athletes’Commission, advocating for the rights of athletes worldwide.
Despite criticism over her association with Mnangagwa’s administration, she has maintained that her goal is to develop sports and empower young people in Zimbabwe.