If the cardinals of the Vatican thought they cornered the market on secretive elections, then perhaps they had not factored on how the International Olympic Committee choose their president. For Coe, it is the toughest race of his life and certainly the strangest, given the stringency of the rules for those running, with the cast including a Jordanian prince, the son of a former IOC ruler and Zimbabwean sports minister.
The quirks of the process are quite startling. In Lausanne, the oddities extend further to the regulations around the all-important speeches to the members. Upon arrival at Olympic House from 9am onwards, each of the seven will be required to hand over their phones before they are escorted to a private room with up to three aides.
When it is their turn to speak, they will then be led to the auditorium and given a rigid minute window to sell their candidacy β what they say and how well they say it will be a mystery to the outside world, as filming is strictly prohibited, as are journalists. For an organisation that has long faced criticisms for its lack of transparency, it would seem Bach was in no mood to improve perceptions on his way out of the IOC door. One of the candidates, Prince Feisal of Jordan, has already broken ranks to condemn the nature of the process.
Lord Sebastian Coe's campaign to be named the new IOC president is not only the toughest race of his life so far - it is also the strangest given the stringency of the rules for those running. French president of world cycling David Lappartient is among the list of runners and riders. If we're looking at the most powerful job in sport, then the world should understand who the people who are running are. I would prefer that we would present and the whole world would see.
It is widely accepted that his CV, from Olympian to the orchestrator of London and the president of World Athletics, is the best in the field by a distance. He also has a proven history of big calls from his time running athletics - banning Russia, favouring science over ideology in the gender row and awarding prize money to Olympic medallists were all bold, decisive steps. However, he has made a big play on being the change candidate and the inferred criticisms of the status quo have not gone unnoticed.
