Why Cassani had to go

The whole process was carried out in secrecy so that London's chances of making the final shortlist of official candidates on Tuesday could not be threatened.

There was no way that the job could be advertised again. That would take too long and, to the IOC, it would look like there were major problems with the bid.

The position had to go to someone who was already in a senior position. Coe was the obvious choice and the former

Olympic 1500 metres champion jumped at the idea when Cassani spoke to him about it.

All that was needed then was for the three main stakeholders - the

Government, Ken Livingstone and the British Olympic Association - to give their approval.

Last week Cassani arranged a meeting with the Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. A strong ally of Tony Blair, Jowell has kept her ear close to the ground on the Olympic bid.

So when Cassani told Jowell about her plans, it would not have come as a huge surprise. Blair gave his approval last weekend together with Livingstone, who had been the main driver in getting Cassani appointed.

It is believed that during all the discussions, Reedie made it clear that Mills was making real progress in the lobbying of IOC members and that Coe needed his support. So the chief executive was also given the title of President, International.

The key thing was that everything had to be kept secret over 48 hours before the IOC's announcement about the shortlist in Lausanne on Tuesday.

It sounds easy but the early few months of the London bid last year had been dominated by leaks from sources in Government and the Mayor's office.

The bid's communications director Mike Lee made it one of his goals to stamp them out. Officials and civil servants were given a severe warning that the bid could be damaged if news got out before the IOC's executive board sat down to draw up their shortlist.

Cassani went to Lausanne, talked positively to the TV cameras as London made the shortlist and then rushed back to London for a celebrity party on Tuesday night.

She gave nothing away. But just as the celebrities were turning up at the London Eye, Coe and Reedie got on the phone to IOC President Jacques Rogge to break the news.

The first reaction to Coe's appointment has been mixed. While it has received great praise from the diplomatic Rogge, some doubts were raised about the former athlete's ability to play Olympic politics.

In his early years after retiring from athletics, Coe had a reputation for not turning up to meetings and failing to organise his diary properly. He is believed to have solved that weakness after working as former Tory leader William Hague's assistant. But, while his sporting credentials are respected, the middledistance star has a lot of work to do on his image as a diplomat.

He also needs to make sure his private life does not become the subject of tabloid intrusions as it has in the last two years. Coe has now cleared his old diary and vowed to cut back on most of his other commitments in the media and in athletics.

The bell for the second lap of the 2012 campaign was sounded on Tuesday. Now Coe has to prove he still has a devastating sprint finish.