IOC presidential race reaches finish line - key questions answered

The race to become world sport's most powerful figure has entered the finishing straight with International Olympic Committee (IOC) members in Greece to elect a new president for the first time since 2013.

The winner will replace 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.

BBC Sport looks at the key questions before Thursday's vote.

The IOC - a mix of royalty, former athletes and leading figures from the worlds of law, politics and business - will conduct an electronic secret ballot at around 14:00 GMT, with each member casting one vote per round.

In an intriguing process that has drawn comparisons with the way cardinals choose a new pope, 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 (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. In what is thought to be one of the closest races in the IOC's 131 year history, most insiders are predicting several rounds of voting.

This all follows an opaque campaign process which restricted candidates to 15-minute presentations at a private event in January, with media barred and no scope for questions from members afterwards. With no endorsements by members, nor any criticism of rival candidates allowed, much will depend on behind-the-scenes lobbying, and an unpredictable result cannot be ruled out.

Lord Coe is the highest-profile contender. A two-time Olympic 1500m champion, the 68-year-old oversaw the London 2012 Games before taking charge of World Athletics, and is bidding to become the first British IOC president.

Coe told BBC Sport that he was "in good shape" on Wednesday, later insisting that "there is momentum".

"I have enjoyed the campaign and the discussions that I have had," he added. "I have listened a lot and I've heard about what members are concerned about and what they would like to change.

"And I believe my manifesto strikes the right balance between building on the last 12 years and change with purpose and care. It's an election and I'm enjoying the energy."

The only other former Olympian among the candidates is another double gold medallist, former swimmer Kirsty Coventry. If successful, Zimbabwe's 41-year-old sports minister would make history by becoming the first woman, the first African and the youngest person to hold the role.

The third of three front-runners is 65-year-old Spanish businessman Juan Antonio Samaranch. the IOC's vice-president. He is a member of the IOC's executive board, like Coventry, and is trying to follow in the footsteps of his father, who served as president from 1980 to 2001.

Sweden-born businessman and ski federation president Johan Eliasch, Japan's Morinari Watanabe - head of the international gymnastics federation, French cycling chief David Lappartient and Jordanian Prince Feisal al-Hussein are the other contenders.

Most of the candidates have campaigned on similar themes, pledging to modernise, promote sustainability, embrace technology and empower athletes.

Coe has put much emphasis on protecting female sport. He has suggested he would consider introducing a blanket ban on transgender women competing in the female category if elected.

The IOC and IPC both currently allow individual sports to set their own rules regarding transgender athletes. Under Coe's presidency, World Athletics has banned transgender women from competing in the female category at international events and toughened the rules over the participation of athletes with differences in sex development (DSD). Coe has also said he will seek talks with social media companies to try to tackle abuse of female stars.

Coventry and Samaranch are seen as continuity candidates. Among the outsiders, Eliasch has proposed rotating the Winter Games among a group of permanent hosts while Watanabe wants to stage the Olympics across five cities from five continents at the same time.

Whoever wins, there has already been scrutiny of a process lacking transparency, but this will only intensify if Coventry is successful because she is widely seen as Bach's preferred candidate.

The sole female candidate has played down suggestions that the outgoing president has been rallying support for her, but this could be an intriguing final test of Bach's influence. Coventry has also had to defend her association with the government of controversial President Emmerson Mnangagwa, who has faced allegations of corruption and human rights abuses.

Samaranch Jnr is seen by many as the favourite, but has faced questions over the fact that two Chinese IOC members who sit on the board of his family foundation - which is based in China - are permitted to vote.

When asked by BBC Sport whether that hands him an unfair advantage, he defended the rules. If he emulates his father - who raised the profile of the Olympic movement but was also president at the time of the damaging 1999 Salt Lake City corruption scandal - it may not be the best look for the governing body at a time when it is trying to modernise.

Coe has received the support of athletes such as Usain Bolt and Mo Farah, but is seen as something of a disruptor by many within the Olympic movement. As head of World Athletics, he has taken a tougher stance than the IOC with Russia over both doping and the invasion of Ukraine.

He has also called for better IOC leadership over gender policies after an eligibility controversy overshadowed the women's boxing competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

His surprise move to award cash for gold medals at last year's Paris Olympics also antagonised the IOC. He has also said that too much power has been concentrated at the top of the IOC and not enough has been made of the members' talents.

Whoever is chosen will need to be an astute diplomat, assuming power at a pivotal time for the Olympic movement, and amid a complicated and tense geopolitical landscape.

The new president - who will formally take office in June - may have to deal with the potential reintegration of Russia, which was banned after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, and with US President Donald Trump in the build up to LA 2028. He has already threatened to deny visas for transgender women athletes trying to visit the US to compete in the female category at the LA Games.

There is also a winter Olympics in northern Italy to prepare for next year, and a decision looming on where the 2036 summer Games should be staged, with bids expected from India, South Africa and the Middle East.

Longer-term, tasks range from contending with gender eligibility, human rights, climate change and AI, to ensuring the Games remain relevant and attracts new audiences and sponsors in a fragmented and rapidly-changing media and entertainment landscape.