Tony Estanguet, the French three-time Olympic champion C1 canoeist, will find out early next month whether his bid to join the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee is successful.

Two other athletes, a Japanese hammer thrower and a Taekwondo fighter, were disqualified from the election after alleged irregularities. They are now appealing and so the outcome of the election among Olympic athletes in London depends on a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), expected around April 12.

CAS said on Monday it would hear the appeal by Koji Murofushi on April 11. The Taiwanese Taekwondo fighter Chu Mu-yen had his case heard in January but no ruling has been handed down yet.

The alleged irregularities concern claims the pair disregarded strict non-canvassing rules.

Whoever gets a place on the IOC Commission automatically becomes a member of the supreme Olympic body - and canoeing could really do with a few friends there after the sport narrowly avoided relegation from the Olympic calendar altogether at a recent IOC Executive Board meeting.

According to the International Canoe Federation (ICF) the reason for this was because "we [the ICF] have realized that the procedure used for voting was changed at the last moment and that all sports were open to receive votes". However the Wall Street Journal, the authoritative voice of the US financial sector, has a poll asking readers which sport should have been dropped from the Olympic sporting programme. 

Of the 5 sports which were up for dismissal from the 26-strong sports programme, the Journal’s own poll shows canoeing neck-and-neck with equestrianism as the sport its readers would actually like to have seen dropped.

This tells you all you need to know about how canoeing is perceived in the USA – a ‘who cares’ sport, by the look of it. Someone’s got some work to do to help change that perception.

Far be it for us to tell you to vote for equestrianism but…..you can find the poll here.

Separately, Estanguet and his compatriot Emilie Fer, the women's K1 Olympic champion, were both awarded the Légion d'Honneur, France's highest honour, at a ceremony in the French capital last year. President Francois Hollande described Estanguet as an inspiration to the country.