Late Wednesday, members of the International Olympic Committee gathered for a dinner at the Olympic Museum on the banks of Lake Geneva. The next morning, they would see presentations from seven candidates vying to be their leader, a role that would by most measures be the most important in international sports.
At the closed-doors gathering, the outgoing president, Thomas Bach, ensured that the members present — the people who determine who will eventually lead the IOC — were kept apart from the candidates. It was, he said perhaps jokingly, so they could enjoy their meals in peace.
It was a scene in keeping with the quirky and sometimes stifling rules of an election that will be decided when IOC members vote in March at a resort in southern Greece.
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