COSTA NAVARINO: The race to succeed Thomas Bach as president of the International Olympic Committee reaches a climax on Thursday with Juan Antonio Samaranch Junior, Sebastian Coe and Kirsty Coventry believed to be neck and neck but clear of the remaining quartet.

Any of those three would be an historic winner in the election in Costa Navarino, Greece.

Samaranch would emulate his father of the same name and become the first father and son to be crowned president, World Athletics president Coe would be the first Briton and Zimbabwean Coventry the youngest at 41, and both the first woman and African.

Nevertheless surprises from the electorate of 100-plus IOC members cannot be ruled out in the battle to become the most powerful figure in sports governance.

Ski federation chief and renowned environmentalist Johan Eliasch, Morinari Watanabe, president of the international gymnastics federation, cycling head David Lappartient and Prince Feisal al-Hussein make up the heavyweight field.

The vote takes place behind closed doors and just as in the award-winning film “Conclave” about cardinals choosing a new pope, all the IOC members will be obliged to leave their phones outside the room.

Just off the exclusive resort is the site of the 1827 naval battle in the Greek War of Independence which resulted in a heavy defeat for the Ottoman Empire.

While this battle will be bloodless it has got dirtier with the three main candidates targeted in the past week as the contest enters the decisive stage.

Whoever wins will take over a financially secure body, but those calm waters are muddied by a febrile geopolitical situation.

Adding to the potent mix, the new IOC chief will have to deal with unpredictable US President Donald Trump as Los Angeles hosts the next Summer Olympics in 2028.

In this “very complex world”, as Samaranch termed it, where previously undisputed truths such as “universality, fraternity and unity” are now disputed, it is no time to take a leap in the dark.

The 65-year-old Spaniard, an assured and polished performer with over two decades as an IOC member, argues he provides the steady hand at the tiller that is required.

“It is not about the face or the gender, or the continent,” he told AFP in an interview.

“Even in the easiest of times, we should elect the best person for the job.

“This is too important and too relevant for too many people to experiment.”

Samaranch Junior would take over an IOC radically different to the one his father did in 1980 and then ran for over two decades, effectively saving it with a radical transformation of its finances.

Samaranch, though, while praising his father for overseeing the saving of “Olympism”, insists his era is not “remotely relevant today.”

Coe appears to be seen by Bach as the disruptor candidate, which is perhaps surprising given many would view him as an establishment figure.