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
National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan (NOC) is a sports governing body that was established in 1992 to manage Tajikistan's activities in relation to the Olympics. The office of the NOC is located in the center of the city, on Aini Street in Dushanbe. The current National Olympic Committee of Tajikistan is headed by Bakhrullo Radzhabaliev (President) and Shirinjon Mamadsafoev (Secretary General). Tajikistan made its debut as an independent nation at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, United States. The most recent Olympics in Beijing 2008 marked the country's