France at the 1900 Summer Olympics games, taking top prize in the tournament. France matched Great Britain in gold medals won in the inaugural sailing events in 1900, but took 16 of the 20 silver and bronze medals (8 each). 76 French sailors took part. France competed again in shooting at the second modern Olympic Games. France won the most medals in the sport that year with 10, but took only three gold medals to Switzerland's five. France sent a team to compete in the tug of war competition in 1900, losing to a combined Denmark-Sweden team. France at the 1900 Summer Olympics France was the
President of the International Olympic Committee congress. Athens was approved to host the 1896 Olympic Games, being the original home of the Olympics, and Vikelas was duly chosen as the first President of the IOC. Pierre, Baron de Coubertin, took over the IOC presidency when Demetrius Vikelas stepped down after the Olympics in his own country. Despite its initial success, the Olympic Movement faced hard times, as the 1900 Games (in de Coubertin's own Paris) and 1904 Games were both upstaged by World's Fairs—Exposition Universelle in 1900 and Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904—and received little attention. The 1906 Intercalated Games revived the momentum, and the Olympic