IOC President Thomas Bach has spent much of the last four years railing against the "zeitgeist of our times". One of several speeches by the German on the subject criticised the move towards "isolation, aggressivity, nationalism rather than healthy patriotism" of recent years.

These speeches have often provided a handy reason for Bach to extol the virtues of the Olympic Movement as a unifying force and an "anchor of stability" - at least what the movement considers itself to be.

While he was never once named, the name Donald Trump would surely not have been far from Bach’s lips nor the thoughts of those who have heard him speak on these occasions.

Yes, there are other examples worldwide which you can point to. But none have garnered quite the attention or condemnation of Trump.

One can only imagine the meeting between Bach and Trump which took place at the White House in 2017, during the build-up to Los Angeles being awarded the 2028 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The suggestion has been that the meeting was not a rousing success. Which I could perfectly imagine given the contrast between the deliberate, considered nature of the German lawyer and the bombastic, rapid-fire tweeting approach of the American President.

The meeting remains a mystery, with no official statement released by the White House, nor a tweet from Trump. Unusually for Bach too, no photos were published of a meeting with a world leader.

Trump’s impending departure from the White House perhaps eases one of potential issues facing the IOC.

It is worth looking back to the podium protests at the Pan American Games by American athletes, with Trump having been specifically named by fencer Race Imboden as part of his reasoning for protesting.

A protest against Trump seemed almost inevitable at Tokyo 2020, should the Games go ahead. I would argue Biden’s election significantly reduces the risk for the IOC, with the President-elect already seeking to try to calm the situation in the US.

"It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, to lower the temperature," Biden said last night. 

"To see each other again. To listen to each other again.

"To make progress, we must stop treating our opponents as our enemy. We are not enemies, we are Americans.

"The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season - a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America."

Obviously, time will tell whether these words will carry into actions, particularly as Trump seems insistent on not going quietly and the countless divisions in the US will take time to resolve, if indeed they do.

The words, however, seem something that would chime well with IOC leadership.

The Olympic Movement itself is no stranger to Biden, who attended the opening couple of days of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Biden also dropped in on the Association of National Olympic Committees General Assembly back in 2015.

Biden had apologised for no high-level Government representative being present on the opening day of the meeting in Washington, with his presence billed as a boost to Los Angeles's then bid for the 2024 Olympic Games.

He had been requested to attend the meeting by Eric Garcetti in the early stages of the bid race, which ultimately concluded with the Los Angeles Mayor securing a deal to bring the Games to the city in 2028, with Paris earning the honours for 2024.

Garcetti himself has been a key endorser of Biden during the election, with the Los Angeles Mayor serving as one of four co-chairs of the Biden-Harris campaign. Their close connection might not be a bad thing for the IOC moving forwards over the next four years.

As noted on these pages in recent weeks, the ongoing tension between the US and China will be among the biggest foreign policy areas.

China has faced heavy criticism over its actions in Xinjiang, Tibet, Hong Kong and Taiwan, with Australia and Britain among the countries weighing up measures, including their potential diplomatic presence at Beijing 2022.

During the second Presidential debate Biden criticised Trump for embracing "thugs" in North Korea, China and Russia, while he "pokes his finger at all our allies."

Biden claimed he would look to ensure China plays by the international rules.

"We need to be having the rest of our friends with us saying to China, 'These are the rules. You play by them, or you’re going to pay the price for not paying by them economically,'" Biden said.

The relationship between the US and China will have to be something the IOC watches closely, with Beijing 2022 rapidly approaching and Los Angeles 2028 also on the horizon.

I suspect though that the IOC would be content to have Biden tackling the issue, rather than Trump.