The lunch-time meeting, called after recent talks in Lausanne broke down with important issues still unresolved, saw progress both on the divisive question of a new revenue-sharing formula and another sticking-point concerning the use of video footage of Olympic events in the United States.

Any new formula would not come into effect until 2020.

The USOC currently receives a 20 per cent share of global sponsorship revenue and a 12.75 per cent share of US broadcast rights deals.

Many international officials think it is too big a portion.

The way the new deal is shaping up, insidethegames understands that the two sides may well agree to retain the same percentages up to a certain threshold of cashflow.

The USOC's share might then diminish somewhat once this threshold had been breached.

The setback in Switzerland came last month, immediately after NBC, who have been showing the Summer Olympics since Seoul 1988, retained the rights to broadcast the Games in a $4.38 billion (£2.66 billion) deal through to 2020.

Richard Carrión, the IOC member from Puerto Rico who is arguably the body's leading financial expert, confirmed that progress had been made at the Durban meeting.

He said the two sides had agreed to meet again in a few weeks.

Today's breakthrough comes nearly a year after the two bodies reached a smaller $18 million (£11 million) agreement on a significant financial contribution from the USOC to resolve the Games' cost issues.

This money is to help pay toward the administrative costs of putting on the Olympics.

A revenue-sharing deal would provide further vindication of the stance adopted by USOC chief executive Scott Blackmun since acceding to the post.

Blackmun has made it a priority for him to re-establish the US's international reputation within the Olympic Movement following a damaging row over USOC plans to set up their own Olympic television network.

This contributed to Chicago's humiliating fourth-place finish in the race to win hosting rights to the 2016 Olympics.

This race was won by Rio de Janeiro in Copenhagen in 2009.

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