ABSTRACT
Such was the success of the 1896 Summer Games that there was heavyweight lobbying for Athens to become the permanent home for all future Olympic Games. The IOC managed to resist the pressure, placating the Greeks with the award of the (short-lived) Intercalated Games, but then made a major mistake by approaching the organizers of the 1900 Paris World Fair with proposals to hold the Games alongside the high-profile event. The organizers agreed, but outmanoeuvred Pierre de Coubertin and took over from the IOC.
De Coubertin’s dream of recreating Ancient Olympia on the banks of the Seine were swiftly abandoned. No new facilities were built, dozens of bizarre events ranging from kite flying to fire-engine racing were added to the programme, many of them not under the Olympic banner. Organization was chaotic, records were incomplete, publicity was minimal, so few spectators turned up.
Later, de Coubertin commented that “it was a miracle” that the Olympic Movement survived the fiasco of Paris – yet the next two Olympic Games were also held alongside a major international exhibition.
