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
Olympic Committee of Catalonia Olympic Committee of Catalonia The Olympic Committee of Catalonia (Catalan: "Comitè Olímpic de Catalunya", abbreviated COC) is a currently unrecognized National Olympic Committee who tried to organize the direct representation of Catalonia in the Olympic Games and other sporting events related to it. Nowadays, the COC continues to defend its official recognition by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The first Olympic Committee of Catalonia was founded in 1913 in order to participate in the 1916 Olympic Games of Berlin, but only existed during a brief period. In 1922 it was founded the Sports Confederation of Catalonia, seen as heir to