The celebrations which marked the 50th Anniversary running of Oslo’s Bislett Games offered many great athletes the opportunity to reflect on the days of their youth. As the cavalcade of classic open-topped Ford Mustangs made its slow circuit of the Bislett Stadium track before the main meeting began, the waving passengers – John Walker, Roger Moens, Javier Sotomayor, Jan Zelezny, Ingrid Kristiansen, Henry Rono - received warm waves of applause. For many of those rising in acclaim, these middle aged but still largely trim and athletic figures had created indelible memories on this oval patch of ground.

No one was applauding more warmly than Svein Arne Hansen, recently elected President of European Athletics, who has been involved in every Bislett Games since 1965 in various forms, serving as meeting director from 1985 to 2009.

Sergey Bubka paid a hastily-arranged visit to Kathmandu, at the invitation of the Nepal Athletics Association (NAA), as it was confirmed that the Olympic Movement has promised $500,000 (£322,000/€445,000) to help the nation rebuild in the wake of the devastating recent earthquakes.

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Presidential candidate Sebastian Coe has spoken of Asia's "enormous untapped athletics potential at elite level" during a visit to China ahead of the continental athletics championships.

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Presidential candidate Sergey Bubka claims more should be done by the world governing body to help to engage more young people in athletics.

Sebastian Coe has called for alterations to be made to the global athletics calendar and claimed taking the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) World Championships to Africa within the next decade would be a priority, while his rival for the Presidency Sergey Bubka has called for the sport to embrace technology and believes they must promote their athletes better.

It being general election week here in the United Kingdom, I thought it would be a good time to take a look at the two high-profile electoral battles currently being waged in the world of sport, via the medium of the candidates’ Twitter feeds.

Not because I judge this likely to offer great insights into the identity of the eventual winners: the sports officials in whose hands the outcomes lie are assuredly far too high-minded to be swayed by anything as trivial as social media.

Sebastian Coe and Sergey Bubka, effectively on the campaign trail ahead of this summer’s Presidential election within the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), have offered their latest election promises while attending the Oceania Area Athletics Championships in Cairns, Australia.

Have you caught the election bug? We are not talking Cameron v Miliband here, that messy political punch-up which seems to be heading for a bore draw, or at best a split decision, when Great Britain goes to the polls on May 7.

Svein Arne Hansen’s first speech as European Athletics President - delivered at  the Congress in Bled where he was voted in as successor to the longstanding appointee Hansjörg Wirz - went down well, with a ripple of laughter greeting his sign-off statement:

“I said I didn’t want people just to be involved, I wanted them to be committed,” Hansen recalls. “My final line was that it was like eggs and bacon - the chicken is involved, but the pig is committed.”

At the age of 68, with just one four-year term allowed to him to make his mark, Hansen is determined to make the most of a position he sought four years ago before losing by 28 votes to 22 to the Swiss who has just relinquished his post after 16 years in office.

Sergey Bubka’s manifesto, launched this week ahead of his challenge for the Presidency of the International Association of Athletics Federations, features key policies including greater funding for National Federations, particularly the needier of them. 

A business commission to maximise commercial revenue, and increased grants and assistance for National Federations were two of the key ideas floated by Sergey Bubka today as he launched his manifesto ahead of this summer’s for the Presidency of the International Assocation of Athletics Federations.