All is set as the race to become the supremo of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) reaches its closing stages, with members electing a new president on Thursday to lead the body for the first time since 2013.
The IOC’s 144th Session will take place in a luxury hotel in the plush seaside resort of Costa Navarino, about 60 miles south of Olympia in Greece – the birthplace of the ancient Games.
Voting to elect a new president will commence at around 14:00 GMT through an electronic secret ballot system, with each member casting one vote per round.
All IOC members must hand in their phones before entering the auditorium and compatriots of a candidate cannot vote until that individual is eliminated from the process.
In total, 106 of the 109 members are present, and an absolute majority (more than 50% of the votes) is needed for a candidate to win. If none achieve that in the first round, the candidate with the fewest votes will be eliminated, and additional rounds will then be conducted until someone has an absolute majority.
There are seven candidates vying to become world sport’s most powerful figure. They include double Olympic champion Lord Sebastian Coe, double gold medallist Kirsty Coventry, Spanish businessman Juan Antonio Samaranch, Sweden-born businessman Johan Eliasch, Japan’s Morinari Watanabe, French cycling chief David Lappartient and Jordanian Prince Feisal al-Hussein.
The winner of the election will replace outgoing president Thomas Bach and become just the 10th person to hold the highest office in sport – taking the role for at least the next eight years.
The new president will formally resume office in June this year.