International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge said he expected some form of protest by athletes given the contentious nature of China’s human rights record and policies. The IOC was “not worried”, Dr Rogge said, because he felt confident “athletes will have common sense”.

The International Olympics Committee was maintaining yesterday that no secret deal had been done to allow China to maintain its censorship of the internet and to continue to spy on emails. But its shift in forcing China into last-minute concessions told a different story.