James DeGale is on the cusp of making history as the first British Olympic boxing champion to convert his gold medal into a world professional title.

Chelyabinsk, the latest stop on the Olympic Movement's recent Russian tour, is a city in the Southern Urals most interesting for two rather unusual historical happenings. The first, over half a century ago in 1957, was a nuclear spillage at nearby Ozyorsk rated as history’s worst until Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011. This was followed in February 2013 by the falling of a meteor close to the city, the light of which was reportedly brighter than the sun.

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.

In the FIFA Presidential "race", Sepp says he doesn’t need a manifesto…

For the moment, the blue riband of cycling - the Hour record - rests with an Englishman. But another Englishman won’t rest until it rests with him - for a very long time.

The first Englishman - Commonwealth time trial gold medallist Alex Dowsett - belatedly accomplished his goal at the weekend as he set the new record of 52.937 kilometres at the Manchester Velodrome.

A fortnight before the first European Games in Baku, a popular event which has become an institution in Europe will be held for the 60th time.

Back in 1955 at a meeting in Monaco, representatives of national television stations on the continent decided to start launch a Eurovision Song Contest. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held a contest of its own to find the definitive Olympic music and a man from Monaco, Prince Pierre, was its most enthusiastic supporter.

Despite the best efforts of some distinguished music makers, finding a universal Olympic hymn in the preceding quarter century had proved impossible.

Apart from Prime Minister David Cameron’s own-goal in confusing Aston Villa, the football team he supposedly supports, with West Ham - well, they do wear the same colours - sport has been given short shrift in the UK election campaign which reaches its conclusion on Thursday (May 7).

There was a mad idea at insidethegames at the weekend to set our alarms for 4am and find somewhere to watch the Floyd Mayweather Jnr-Manny Pacquiao fight before travelling on to the office for a day of work. Considering a distinct lack of sleep the night before, I’m not sure how this would have ended and, with the plan eventually abandoned due to a total lack of places in the area showing the fight, I don’t feel I missed too much.

The last thing I expected when being driven back to Durban’s King Shaka airport following the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) Evaluation Commission’s four-day visit was to be questioned by my taxi driver about the political situation in Britain, ahead of the country’s General Election on Thursday (May 7).

After providing an over-complicated run-down of how Britain’s political system works, I explained that when the ballot papers are counted and a result is announced it is anticipated another coalition Government will form, with either David Cameron or Ed Miliband in charge.

Effectively a marriage of convenience.

Remember the date: April 30 may well turn out to be a more significant day for the medium-to-long-term future of FIFA than May 29.

That might seem a strange claim, given that the latter is the date of the FIFA Presidential election to determine the occupant of the second-most powerful post in sport for the next four years.

The athletics world is limbering up for an event which brought a new dimension to the sport last year, and which promises to create another colourful splash of entertainment and excitement over the weekend.

We are talking, clearly, about the World Relays, the format which so amply rewarded the International Association of Athletics Federations for creating it as a main season-opener to their calendar last year.

Last month, the global anti-doping community congregated in Lausanne, Switzerland - a city seen by many as the epicentre of the sporting world - for the largest annual gathering of clean sport representatives: the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) Anti-Doping Organisation (ADO) Symposium.

More words have been spilled about the coming confrontation between Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao that any previous episode of unarmed combat in history.

It is a lovely day in Britain today. Blue sky, blossom and an air of gentle optimism that only spring can bring.