"I am not used to all of the flashing lights so I apologise if my behaviour is not appropriate," the 57-year-old Japanese said.

In that one moment, it was clear to see why so many across the world of gymnastics, and in his native Japan, have particular endearment for him. Following his huge 100 votes to 19 victory over challenger Georges Guelzec of France, the head of the European Union of Gymnastics, you might have thought it might have gone to his head.

Not a bit. Watanabe remained humble and modest in the aftermath, hugging everyone keen to congratulate him on his triumph like a friend he had not seen for 20 years and insisting he did not expect such a comprehensive win, despite being the clear favourite throughout the build-up to the vote.

Do not be fooled by this charm offensive. Underneath the lack of self-aggrandisement is a determined, driven and passionate man who ran a clever and near-perfect campaign to ensure he became only the ninth President of FIG in its 135-year history.

Throughout the Congress itself, he was a constant presence. Meeting and greeting, planning and plotting; not a day went by where he wasn’t working the lobby. It appeared he would do anything to become President.

Watanabe demonstrated his intelligence in knowing how to win the race to replace 82-year-old Italian at the helm of the governing body long before he arrived at the hotel for the 81st gathering of the FIG membership, however.

When Guelzec told insidethegames at last year's Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Glasgow that the Japanese had essentially been secretly campaigning for "a year-and-a-half", Watanabe denied it. He was desperate word did not get out.

It turns out that the Frenchman had been entirely accurate in what he had told me in the press centre of the SSE Hydro a year ago. Watanabe had been lobbying for exactly that amount of time.

Yet, only those within the gymnastics fraternity knew it. Guelzec had announced his intention to stand in January 2015 but it took a further six months for Watanabe to confirm his candidacy. He was reluctant for it to be made public even then. 

During the period when Guelzec appeared the only candidate in the race, the Japan Gymnastics Association secretary general was making ground behind closed doors, visiting 102 countries on a campaign trail which took him all over the world, spreading his vision and plan for a new era for the FIG in the wake of Grandi’s impending departure.

As soon as the 82-year-old Italian announced that he would not seek another mandate at the helm of the organisation at the Congress in Tashkent in 2014, Watanabe began putting the platform in place for a shot at the top job. Guelzec clearly had the same gameplan, but did not have the strategy to ultimately pull it off.

Further examples of mistakes from the 68-year-old UEG President were to be made in the run-in to the crucial vote, where 119 Member Federations headed to the ballot booths to choose their next President.

For what it is worth, Guelzec is a respected official within gymnastics who has helped spearhead change within his home Continental Union. Openly criticising your opponent just two days before the election, however, was not the smartest move as he told me outside the hotel that Watanabe’s vision for the future simply would not work.

He said the Japanese’s pledges of further cash for the members - sound familiar? - were unrealistic and that his manifesto was too heavily focused on money and business, rather than the sport and development, the core themes of his own candidacy. His words did not go down well with many.

Guelzec repeated the claims in his five-minute speech to the Congress ahead of the vote, compounding an error made only 48 hours earlier.

In contrast, Watanabe remained cool, calm and collected and didn’t take the bait.

In fairness to the Frenchman, it was good to see some spice being added to what had been a timid, docile and low-key race before that point - at least publically.

Gymnastics has a high standing in the world of sport and is grouped alongside only athletics and swimming in the top tier of the Olympic Games, but that position was not reflected in the campaign. The lack of speculation, gossip and media coverage about who would win was conspicuous by its absence, while unlike other Federations, the nations involved refused to declare which box they would be ticking.

As a result, it did not have the intrigue and prestige of Coe v Bubka nor the bitterness and animosity of Cookson v McQuaid. A spark was missing.

Perhaps we should not be surprised. After all, this is a Federation which would happily keep its business away from the prying media spotlight and the organisation would have been delighted Watanabe v Guelzec did not feature the war of words which so often accompany an International Federation Presidential election.

FIG would also have been pleased to see the worldwide gymnastics family was largely unanimous in their choice of who should lead the federation into unchartered territory. With Grandi stepping down in December, the regime under Watanabe begins on January 1. New Year. New President.

So what exactly does the future hold for the FIG? Watanabe will be foolish to dismiss the mostly good foundations established by his predecessor, captain of the ship for 20 years, yet he must also put his own stamp on the Federation.

Grandi oversaw a number of sweeping changes during his time in charge, most notably the scrapping of the perfect 10 score - an alteration which still grates with some to this day - and the tougher sanctioning on judges whose "heart beats a little too quickly for their own country", as FIG secretary general André Gueisbuhler put it.

Watanabe has already said he will continue to work on "sports justice" - the phrase coined by Grandi uttered several times during the Congress - but it is some of his other vows that have caught the eye, notably attracting companies who are sponsors of Tokyo 2020 to partner with gymnastics to increase the revenue stream and attempting to enhance the representation of the FIG at the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The latter is a key target for the Japanese. There is currently no representative of the FIG in sport’s most exclusive club, with Grandi serving as an IOC member from 2000 to 2004 before being forced to relinquish his status due to the age limit of 70 in place at the time.

Watanabe may also be an enticing prospect for Thomas Bach. The German surely recognises the FIG deserve some sort of input within the IOC and he could use another Japanese member as the global attention begins to turn towards Tokyo 2020 Just as he had done during the campaign, Watanabe remained reserved about his chances of joining the IOC electorate.

For him, the speculation ends and now the hard work begins. He has already revealed he will take up intense English lessons in order to be able to communicate effectively and his popularity, coupled with the manner in which he secured the FIG Presidency, suggests the members are fully behind his vision for the future.

But he has already seen it might be difficult to implement it. Watanabe experienced a problem similar to Barack Obama in the United States, who tried to introduce widespread reform and change during the early stages of his tenure as President but kept getting rebuffed in the Senate. Some simply just don’t like change.

The Japanese endured the same issue on the final day of the Congress here on Thursday (October 20). He wanted to see statute changes he had championed pushed through but he met with stubborn resistance, though some of them came close to making it.

Yet if he can sway the members to do things his way, he just might be a success."Together, we can be the king of sports," he boldly declared in his acceptance speech.

It was a rare occurrence of brashness from Watanabe. Should he deliver on his promises, he will have every right to be arrogant - no matter how uncharacteristic that might be.