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
Bulgarian Olympic Committee development of their sports. There are currently 29 Olympic Summer and 7 Winter Sport Federations in Bulgaria. Bulgarian Olympic Committee The Bulgarian Olympic Committee (, "Balgarski olimpiyski komitet"; abbreviated as БОК, BOC) is a non-profit organization serving as the National Olympic Committee of Bulgaria and a part of the International Olympic Committee. The Bulgarian Olympic committee was formed on 30 March 1923 (with Bulgaria participating in the Olympic Games since the first modern Olympiad in 1896) and disbanded between September 1944 and 1952, since when it has continuously represented the country in the Olympic movement. The Bulgarian National Federations are