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
Estonian Olympic Committee On 20 August 1991 the independence of the Republic of Estonia was proclaimed and by decision of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee, at the board session in Berlin on 18 September 1991, the EOK was reintegrated into the Olympic Movement on 11 November 1991. In 1992 the IOC delegation led by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch visited Estonia. Delegation members included Vice President of the IOC and Russian Olympic Committee president – Vitali Smirnov, IOC and Swedish Olympic Committee member – Gunnar Ericsson, President of the EOC – Jacques Rogge and Secretary General of the EOC and