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
New Zealand Olympic Committee NZOC was founded in 1911 and recognised by the IOC in 1919. Former New Zealand members of the International Olympic Committee are: Current International Olympic Committee (IOC) members are: The NZOC is governed by a board that is headed by a president. Five of the board members are elected by the general assembly. The two IOC members plus an athletes' representative complete the board. Since 2009, the president has been Mike Stanley. Presidents New Zealand Olympic Committee The New Zealand Olympic Committee (before 1994, The "New Zealand Olympic and Commonwealth Games Association") is the body in New Zealand responsible for