• World Athletics president ‘has no idea’ about his chances
• Lord Coe thought to be neck-and-neck with Samaranch Jr

No sooner had the crucial presentations for the biggest job in sport ended than the guessing games began. Sebastian Coe mixed flattery with oratory over the course of his 15-minute pitch for the job of International Olympic Committee president, before promising the IOC’s 110 members he would lead them into a glorious new era. But then came the caveat.

It came when Coe was asked how he believed he stood in a contest that some observers increasingly believe is a direct battle between him and the Spaniard Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr.