In general, I think, the event can be chalked up as a success, as reflected by the high turn-out.

 

However, a couple of points in particular have emerged during the course of my inquiries that are worth homing in on.

 

The first concerns the host city selection process; the second, the way in which new sports for possible inclusion in the 2016 Summer Games are being chosen.

 

There is no doubt that the opportunity for Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo – the four 2016 Candidate Cities – to brief IOC members in the Olympic Movement’s modern-day capital was broadly welcomed.

 

But what it does not seem to have done is put an end to calls for members who want first-hand experience of what each city has to offer before casting their votes to be able to embark on organised visits to the cities in question.

 

“I would prefer to visit the cities,” as one IOC member told me.

 

This was because, in his view, some of the technical factors such as traffic and climate can only be assessed by experiencing them – moreover: “I have never been to Chicago”.

 

Another experienced member made the point that having presented once in Lausanne, the onus would now be on the cities more than ever to pull something new out of the hat in Copenhagen in October.

 

A third member estimated that “probably 20 or 25 percent” of IOC members would be in favour of visits.

 

I have now been apprised of a research exercise suggesting that the proportion of members in favour of visits may well be considerably higher than that.

 

Over the past six months, I was told, more than 70 members have been asked whether they would want to have organised bid city visits, on a choice of perhaps three or four pre-selected dates.

 

Their responses? It seems that 31 said "Definitely", while 18 replied that it would be "Very Desirable".

 

My prediction: this is far from the last we have heard of this matter.

 

IOC members unhappy over sports decision

 

I have also picked up rumblings in the ranks concerning the selection process for the seven sports –

baseball, golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, softball and squash - striving to make it onto the 2016 Olympic programme.

 

An IOC official confirmed in Lausanne that the IOC Executive Board would choose just two of these to be put forward for possible inclusion in the 2016 Games.

 

All the sports used the event to give 20-minute presentations to the Executive Board on why they should be included.

 

Plainly some members have been taken aback by how little is apparently being left for them to do.

 

“I didn’t realise we had agreed what I am hearing,” one member told me.

 

“That the Executive Board was mandated to do all the legwork and come back with two sports.

 

“I thought a shortlist was coming.”

 

“I would prefer to vote on the seven,” said another member, while acknowledging this would make for an unwieldy voting process.

 

Strongest of all were the comments of a third senior and influential member:

 

“I am opposed to the Executive Board coming forward and saying, ‘We have in our wisdom decided on Sports A and B – and you have to defeat the Executive Board if you disagree,’” he said.

 

Knowledgeable observers believe that the IOC leadership is going to have to tread very carefully between now and October if an embarrassingly large number of No votes is to be avoided.

 

This is something it could ill afford after what one member described as the “shambles” in Singapore four years ago, when no sport mustered enough votes to be added to the Games programme.

 

Having said that, I have the distinct impression that the leadership too feels strongly about this issue.

 

Rogge frustrated

 

When I interviewed IOC President Jacques Rogge earlier this year, this was the one part in the conversation when I sensed a degree of frustration on his part.

 

“It’s been a long process,” he said with a sigh.

 

“It’s a little bit ironic what I say, but the lesson I learnt with that – it’s good to be democratic (and I believe that I am a democratic guy) but you don’t have to go too far with democracy.”

 

He then launched into a long account, starting in 2002, designed, I think, to illustrate how much of a meal the IOC has made of the issue.

 

He concluded: “The choice proposed by the Executive Board will have an added value in that it will fit into the 25 or 26 core sports…

 

“The Session has expressed the feeling that this should not be a blind secret ballot by each one of us because if you do that you will miss a kind of cohesion and added-value that these two sports can bring to the existing [sports].”

 

The best intelligence I can bring as to the likely outcome is that golf, squash and rugby are thought to be the most popular with members, with softball believed to be running a fairly distant fourth.

 

I have heard it said that if members were able to vote all the first three sports into the Games, they would probably do so.

 

At present though, they appear unlikely to get that chance.

 

● Seconds Out!

The grappling over the London 2012 boxing venue is becoming more gruelling than any Olympic bout.

 

After what seems to have been a particularly unproductive meeting last week, the position now, as I understand it, is that boxing will consent to be moved to Wembley only if all weigh-in activities and accommodation for the sport are at Wembley too.

 

If that cannot be assured, officials are minded to insist on an alternative location more accessible to the Olympic Park – a number of venues have been mentioned in recent days – even if it means that efforts to save money by not building a planned temporary venue at North Greenwich are thwarted.

 

Says LOCOG: “We have been in discussions with AIBA (the international amateur boxing association) for a few months now to see if there is a way Wembley Arena can work for boxing.

 

"Those discussions continue.”

 

David Owen is a specialist sports journalist who worked for 20 years for the Financial Times in the United States, Canada, France and the UK. He ended his FT career as sports editor after the 2006 World Cup and is now freelancing, including covering last year's Beijing Olympics. An archive of Owen’s material may be found by Twitter users at www.twitter.com/dodo938.