The IOC will elect a new president this week. Here's what you need to know

Behind closed doors at a resort in Greece, with the cameras turned off, International Olympic Committee (IOC) members will choose a new president on Thursday at the organization's 144th session.

The winner among the seven candidates will lead the largest sporting organization in the world beginning in June when president Thomas Bach, who has held the top job since 2013, steps aside.

One of the biggest items on the new president's to-do list appeared to be checked off earlier this week, when the IOC announced a new U.S. media rights deal with NBC.

The deal, worth $3 billion, will last through at least 2036, when Salt Lake City will host the Winter Olympics. The U.S. rights deal is a major source of revenue for the IOC. 

But they'll have plenty of other issues to tackle, from navigating international diplomacy and conflict, a warming climate, and issues of sport integrity and athlete safety, to making sure the Olympics are accessible to a younger generation more likely to turn to Tik Tok before switching on a TV.

Here's a preview of what to expect, who's running, and why Canadians should care:

Seven people are vying for the presidency, with many seeing Sebastian Coe, Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. and Kirsty Coventry as the three frontrunners.

Coe, the World Athletics president, four-time Olympic medallist and London 2012 organizer, has a platform centred around engaging young people, increasing transparency, strengthening the anti-doping system and prioritizing athletes' physical, financial and mental welfare. 

"The biggest challenge faced by the International Olympic Committee is no different and it is not unique from any national Olympic committee, any sporting organization, any club, private or public: it is how do you continue to excite and engage with young people?" Coe told reporters during a brief question-and-answer session with media in January.

"And how do you utilize, optimize, fully, the use of cutting-edge technology?" 

Coe raised eyebrows when, ahead of the Summer Olympics in Paris last year, he announced that gold-medal winners in athletics would get a $50,000 US bonus. Some criticized the move as going against the spirit of the Olympics.

Coe said he will prioritize athletes' "financial well-being" and will make sure "their contributions are rewarded fairly." He's also promised to create programs that would see athletes get a piece of "the commercial rewards they help generate."

Zimbabwe's Coventry is only the second woman to ever run for the IOC presidency. If elected, she will also be the first president from Africa. As a swimmer, Coventry competed at five Olympic Games, earning seven medals.

Some see her as Bach's preferred candidate, though Coventry downplayed that when a reporter asked about it in January.