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
President of the International Olympic Committee post to become Honorary President. The "Comte" led the IOC until his death in 1942, when he was succeeded by his Vice-President Sigfrid Edström. When IOC president Henri de Baillet-Latour died in 1942, Swedish industrialist Sigfrid Edström took over as the acting president until the end of World War II, when he was formally elected IOC President. He played an important role in reviving the Olympic Movement after the war. In 1931, Edström was involved in the controversial decision to ban legendary Finnish runner Paavo Nurmi from competing at the 1932 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, as the IOC considered