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
Canadian Olympic Committee Games. Hanbury-Williams became Canada's first IOC member in 1911. After another Canadian Olympic Committee was created with the purpose of organizing a team for the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, it was reported that the IOC wanted permanent NOCs. In 1913, the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada (AAUC) created the Canadian Olympic Association with James Merrick as Chairman, a position he held until 1921 when he succeeded Hanbury-Williams as IOC member. In 1921, the renamed Canadian Olympic Committee became a standing committee of the AAUC and a year later Patrick J. Mulqueen was elected Chairman, a position he held until