Navarino

IOC insiders that BBC Sport spoke to at the luxury resort of Costa Navarino in Greece, where Thursday's vote took place, all said that Coventry was the preferred candidate of outgoing president Thomas Bach.

The full IOC Session of about 100 members must vote on the decision later this week at a meeting in Costa Navarino, Greece, but that is typically a formality.

In 1827, with the revolution almost squashed, the war fleets of Britain, Russia and France intervened to destroy a Turkish-Egyptian fleet in the Bay of Navarino, in the western Peloponnese.

Two hours west of Sparta sits the mammoth new Costa Navarino development, which includes a pair of resorts and golf courses overlooking the Ionian Sea.

From Sept. 19 to 21, the second annual Navarino Challenge will bring runners to a region along the Ionian Sea with a significant history of athleticism.