"I remember [Irish politician] Charlie McCreevy saying to me ­anybody who asked him about getting into politics, his advice was to get into sports politics first because that will toughen you up," he said. "I thought that was a good bit of advice."

I was reminded of this while sitting alongside the sizable Irish press contingent as the meeting began. "I don’t usually cover sport," one hack told me. "But this is much more intense than 'real' politics."

"Less accountability, I guess," I muttered back distractedly while clumsily trying to pull-off the modern journalistic feat of tweeting, taking a photo and taking notes at the same time.

"Accountability?" my neighbour spluttered back. "There isn’t any here."

Right on cue, OCI honorary general secretary Dermot Henihan began the sort of gushing tribute which would have had even a filibustering politician purring in admiration. 

"The OCI has in the last 28 years under [outgoing President] Pat Hickey become more professional," he began in an address lasting almost 10 minutes.

"Remember when Pat started out they were working off the kitchen table and going to members' houses for meetings. As far as I am concerned he is a great part of the OCI and it will always be a part of him." 

He continued by praising the huge work achieved under Hickey’s tenure both in Ireland and internationally before defending his former boss from wrongdoing in the recent ticketing scandal which led to his arrest and brief imprisonment in Brazil on charges he denies. Internal and external probes into problems in the national governing body were criticised as "inaccurate speculation" leading to "needless expenditure".

"Like something out of the North Korean politburo," the voice next to me muttered as the speech ended with a smattering of warm applause.

But, fast forward an hour or so, and the old guard had been shunted out of the frame with ruthless efficiency. First, Hickey’s long-term vice-president and favoured successor William O’Brien was defeated in a landslide, along with O'Byrne, by Swim Ireland chief executive and OCI Board newcomer Sarah Keane.

Henihan himself was then ousted by another Sarah who shares her surname with an ex-Manchester United Irishman: O’Shea, on this occasion, rather than Keane. Treasurer William Kennedy was the only perceived "Hickey-loyalist" to retain his place and this was probably only because his sole opponent had withdrawn the week before.

Time will tell how much of a reforming era this election ushered in at the OCI, but early indications were good. Supporting athletes and justifying their funding were the key messages of Keane’s comments afterwards, and they were uttered with an air of steely determination rather than in the empty rhetorical way such promises are usually made in world sport.

Here, then, was an example of a sporting body where accountability seems to have triumphed…belatedly.

I was shocked in Rio about the venomous nature of the criticism Hickey faced in Ireland following his ticketing arrest. Journalists, politicians and members of the media united in a rare coalition to crow and share mocking anecdotes.

It all painted a very different picture to the Hickey I had encountered when starting out in the Olympic world. Of all the intimidating hordes of IOC members you would encounter at plush cocktail receptions, Hickey was the one most likely to learn your name and cheerfully beckon you over to some quiet corner to gossip about the issue of the day.

Of course, I soon realised that everything he said had an agenda or a message, but this was no different from anyone else, and he was always happy to deal with virtually any pernickety question we had for him.

What is therefore clear is that Hickey, like so many others in sport, had prioritised his standing among sports organisations and administrators and, in our case, the media most read by them.

There was simply less need to appeal to those outside this circle because, unlike in "real" politics, the public have no vote.

My favourite interview with Hickey came during the 2015 International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Kuala Lumpur when a small group of us caught him in a particularly bombastic mood when asking about human rights criticisms of the European Games.

"We are sick to death of being lectured by the countries of Western Europe on the values of Olympism and what to do," the European Olympic Committees President said. "Western Europe think that it’s the European Union of 28 countries. I'm President of 50 countries of Europe. Western Europe doesn’t stand up to the plate. They don’t have any Games. They don’t bid for anything."

He was at it again last year, claiming in July to be "shocked and concerned on many levels" by "compromising" calls for Russia to be suspended from Rio 2016. Irish public opinion it was not, but they were words which went down well in much of Hickey’s true constituency of the IOC and Eastern European administrators.

The question here, then, is to what extent is sport being forced to become more publicly accountable today?

I attended the OCI election at the end of a frantic period of travelling in which I had also visited Paris for a check-up on the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic bid before zooming south to Monte Carlo for an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council meeting.

Paris' overwhelming focus was on how their Olympic bid can bring the country together for the benefit of French sport. Their "Made for Sharing" strapline - which, incidentally, seems eerily identical to a Quality Street advert in 1979 for English confectionery brand, Nestlé - is all about this appeal to the entirety of Gallic society.

It comes as the Swiss canton of Graubünden became the latest in a seemingly endless list of European regions to reject an Olympic bid, for the 2026 Winter edition this time, during a referendum. Paris' 2024 rival Budapest could feasibly follow suit if an ongoing attempt to solicit the necessary signatures to force a referendum is successful. It is thus vital that the French bid should work to engage local people in the way it has. Their principal rival Los Angeles have not done this to the same extent, but this is only because they were fortunate enough to enjoy huge public support from the start.

But, at the same time, both cities are also aware that it is the 90 or so voting IOC members who ultimately have the deciding vote. The murky world of lobbying and "IR" - "international relations" - is thus just as important, particularly in the closing stages. This is the world of deals and agreements and the sort of "pork barrel" politics at which the likes of Hickey always excelled.

Yes, London's concept of "Inspire a Generation" was key to their 2012 success, but so was the last-minute lobbying work done so well by the likes of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the decisive IOC Session in Singapore.

Given the European apathy for launching bids, however, I think it is fair to say that the first part has never been more important than it is now.

And what about the IAAF? There were two significant announcements made at the Council meeting. The first was the effective confirmation that Russia’s suspension would not be lifted until after August’s World Championships in London. The second was an immediate freezing of athletes being allowed to switch between countries with almost the same ease by which footballers transfer between clubs.

Both of these decisions were widely welcomed by most of the athletics public; but they were far from simple politically. IAAF President Sebastian Coe has been criticised for not responding more strongly against doping and corruption problems before he replaced Lamine Diack in 2015; but his strong action since has almost certainly cost him the future backing of Russia and its allies. There is also no way he would have spoken so strongly against athletes switching countries during his campaign period, when you consider how the likes of Qatar, Bahrain and Turkey have prioritised recruitment as such a key part of their development drive.

But once in power Coe, on these aspects at least, has prioritised ideology over pragmatism, and for this he deserves credit.

IOC counterpart Thomas Bach has certainly not done this so well when faced with the same decision as Coe over suspending Russia before Rio 2016. For Bach and many other International Federation heads, the diplomatic need to satisfy important commercial and event-hosting markets has so far taken priority.

This is a rather crass example, but Coe has identified the need to engage with the public via an active Twitter account. It may rarely be operated by him, given his infamous lack of computer literacy, but this is not really the point. Bach, on the other hand, sees no need for Twitter. He is no doubt more mindful of the pitfalls of leaving himself open for abuse rather than the benefits of easier public engagement.

Rio discus champion Christoph Harting has predicted this week that the Olympics will "slowly die" by 2040 if sufficient changes are not made. I disagree, as I think the sporting uniqueness of the event will always ultimately triumph. But he is right in pointing out how the Movement does have severe accountability problems.

The case of Hickey and the OCI is a good one for showing how important it is for sport to pay more attention to views of those outside its orbit.