Presidents of the International Olympic Committee
| President of the International Olympic Committee Président du Comité international olympique |
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| International Olympic Committee | |
| Style | His Excellency |
| Member of | IOC Executive Board |
| Seat | IOC Headquarters, Lausanne, Switzerland |
| Appointer |
IOC Session Elected by the IOC Members by secret ballot |
| Term length | Eight years Renewable once for four years |
| Constituting instrument | Olympic Charter |
| Formation | 1894 |
| First holder | Demetrius Vikelas |
| Website | International Olympic Committee |
The International Olympic Committee is a corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrius Vikelas on 23 June 1894. Its membership consists of the 205 National Olympic Committees. The IOC organizes the modern Olympic Games held in Summer and Winter, every four years.
The IOC Executive Board consists of the President, four Vice-Presidents and ten other members. All members of the IOC Executive Board are elected by the Session, in a secret ballot, by a majority of the votes cast. The IOC Executive Board assumes the general overall responsibility for the administration of the IOC and the management of its affairs. The IOC Session elects, by secret ballot, the IOC President from among its members for a term of eight years renewable once for four years.
The Baron de Coubertin had already attempted to restart the Olympic Games at the congress for the fifth anniversary of the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques in 1892. While he may have raised the enthusiasm of the public, he didn't manage to establish a proper commitment.
He decided to reiterate his efforts at the congress in 1894 which followed, which would openly address the issue of amateur sports, but also with the sub-text of the recreation of the Olympic Games. Six of the seven points which would be debated pertained to amateurism (definition, disqualification, betting, etc.) and the seventh on the possibility of restoring the Games. Coubertin also sought to give an international dimension to his congress. He gained support from several personalities: the King of the Belgians, the Prince of Wales, the Crown Prince Constantine of Greece and William Penny Brookes, the creator of the "Olympian Games" in Shropshire, England, and Ioannis Phokianos. Phokianos was a professor of mathematics and physics and a college principal. He was also one of the propagators of sport in Greece—he was the organiser of a series of Olympic Games sponsored by Evangelos Zappas in 1875 and in 1888 organised an elite and private Games as the founder of the Pan-Hellenic Gymnastic Club. Phokianos couldn't travel to Paris for financial reasons and because he was finalising the construction of his new college. He turned to one of the more eminent representatives of the Greek community in Paris—Demetrios Vikelas—to whom he wrote to ask him to take part in the congress.
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