Deepfakes, smears and misinformation: Inside the murky race to be topped king of the Olympics

In 1980 he took glorious gold in Moscow and four years later breezed to a repeat in Los Angeles. In 2005, he upset the odds to bring the 2012 Games to London.

But on Thursday, in the plush surroundings of a five-star hotel on the rural south coast of the Greek mainland, Lord Coe will face arguably the toughest Olympic race of his career.

This time there is no track to conquer, but there are many hurdles to clear. The 68-year-old is seeking to become the 10th president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and those hurdles come in many shapes and sizes. For a start, there is an outgoing president many believe is seeking to install a protege successor who once took £55,000 in cash from Robert Mugabe. There is also the son of a fascist and friend of China who many view as the favourite.

Then there are the hurdles that face Coe and his rivals in the shape of misinformation campaigns, unfounded allegations and smears that would not be out of place in a race for the White House.

One deepfake video, which features ludicrous, spurious and dark claims, has been viewed eight million times. A widely circulated letter sent to Games bosses and including allegations of misconduct was sent by someone using a false name.

When all the trash and the talking is over, at 4pm local time (2pm UK), IOC members from around the world will gather in the conference room of the Westin Resort in Costa Navarino, yards from a Bernhard Langer-designed golf course (one of four at a complex frequented by Bill Murray and Cristiano Ronaldo) to determine who will top an eclectic leaderboard and become the most powerful person in sport.

There are seven candidates, but experienced Olympics watchers believe Coe is in a three-way battle with Zimbabwe’s Kirsty Coventry and Spain’s Juan Antonio Samaranch Jnr.

Former swimmer Coventry, 41, is sports minister in a government which took power after elections branded ‘neither free nor fair’ by human rights watchers. She landed seven Olympic medals during a glittering career and was labelled ‘our golden girl’ by Mugabe, who sent her bundles of cash after she’d won all four of Zimbabwe’s medals at Beijing 2008. His successor made her the only white face in his cabinet.

A widely held view is that Coventry, who would be the first woman to take the role, is the choice of incumbent Thomas Bach, who is departing after 12 years at the helm. Bach failed to put proper distance between himself and claims he had been lobbying for Coventry when asked directly on Monday.

Samaranch, 65, is the son of Juan Antonio Samaranch Snr, an ally of Franco whose tenure as IOC president featured the worst corruption scandal in Games history ahead of the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. He is an ally of President Xi and two Chinese IOC members with a vote sit on his Beijing-based family foundation board.

It is a big ask for Coe to win because he is seen as the reformer. In 2015 he took over a World Athletics in turmoil and set about draining the swamp. His tenure has seen a ban on Russian athletes, the creation of a highly regarded anti-doping unit and regulation on the involvement of DSD (difference of sexual development) and transgender athletes in the female categories.

To repeat the trick at the IOC just five years after he became a member is unlikely to be an attractive prospect for the man he would replace. Bach does what he wants and may well be seeking this week to exert influence beyond his departure. Further evidence arrived on Wednesday when dozens of journalists gathered in the hotel’s reception area for a briefing during a planned mid-morning coffee break. The 71-year-old German, however, had other ideas, suggesting the delegates jettison the break to enjoy a longer lunch.

They agreed, and the reporters traipsed back to the sports hall-turned-media centre empty-handed amid apologetic shrugs and watery smiles from Olympics staffers.

This afternoon’s process has been compared to selecting a new Pope, though the only white smoke wafting is likely to be of the cigar variety.

Candidates have been campaigning for five months and will continue to do so until the last minute. Last night, some were deep in discussion in quiet corners of the hotel’s four plush and well-stocked bars. ‘They don’t knock on people’s doors to canvas but it’s not a million miles off,’ said one experienced industry insider.

There are 109 eligible voters but the ballots cast will be fewer for a variety of reasons including no-shows. It is also not permitted to vote while someone from your own country is in the race.

A number of rounds of secret, electronic ballots will take place until one candidate obtains an absolute majority of 50 per cent plus one of the total votes. Should nobody receive that number, the person with the fewest votes is eliminated and another round takes place.

No figures will be announced by Bach, only the name of the departee. In theory, it could be one and done but that is viewed as unlikely.

Mobile phones and tablets are not permitted in the room during the session and members including the Emir of Qatar, Oscar-winning Malaysian actor and former Bond girl Michelle Yeoh, and Princess Anne will go under a security arch and be asked to empty their pockets.

Experienced watchers think Coe — whose campaign has been backed by Usain Bolt and former Prime Minister Boris Johnson — has a puncher’s chance. He has remained relatively tight-lipped and cut a relaxed figure. ‘I’m in good shape but it’s only lunchtime,’ he joked on Wednesday.

‘I feel there is momentum. I have enjoyed the campaign and the discussions I have had. I have listened a lot and heard about what members would like to change. I believe my manifesto strikes the right balance of building on the last 12 years and change with purpose and care.’

Some believe his chances will increase the longer the ballot continues but victory would be an incredible achievement, a feeling which only grew when various members gushed in teary praise of Bach in a nauseating session on Wednesday afternoon, in which he was compared to Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela.

It ended with Bach spluttering into a handkerchief.

The world is watching, not least because of another recent election. ‘With Donald Trump and the geopolitical situation, this is the most important election in more than half a century because of what is at stake,’ said one observer. ‘We do not want to go back to the days of boycott and bankruptcy.’

Sixty miles south of Olympia, the birthplace of the Games, comes another key moment in its history.