VII Olympic Congress Lausanne 1921

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The resumption of Olympic Congresses following the First World War took place in Lausanne because, during the war, Pierre de Coubertin had moved the IOC headquarters there for the sake of neutrality.

The main objective of the Congress was to complete the work, started in Paris in 1914, on streamlining the expanding Olympic Games programme.

Loyalty towards the IOC

This of course was of direct consequence for the International Federation’s and, following a suggestion by the International Cycling Union to create a union of international sports federations. They held a conference of their own immediately prior to the Congress in Lausanne. Against this backdrop it was perhaps not surprising that the Congress failed to bring about a more concise programme of competition, but the fact that the intended amalgamation of the federations into a world sports union did not happen could be seen as a sign of loyalty towards the IOC.

Ist Olympic Winter Games

The Congress decided not to introduce Olympic Winter Games as an independent part of the Olympics but the host country would be allowed to stage competitions in winter sports under the auspices of the IOC, assuming that the country met adequate landscaping and organizational criteria. France was the first to have the chance of staging an “International Winter Sports Week”. This took place at Chamonix in 1924 and later became officially known as the Ist Olympic Winter Games.

IOC Congresses

I Olympic Congress - Paris 1894

II Olympic Congress - Le Havre 1897

III Olympic Congress - Brussels 1905

IV Olympic Congress - Paris 1906

V Olympic Congress - Lausanne 1913

VI Olympic Congress - Paris 1914

VIII Olympic Congress - Prague 1925

IX Olympic Congress - Berlin 1930

X Olympic Congress - Varna 1973

XI Olympic Congress - Baden-Baden 1981

XII Olympic Congress - Paris 1994

XIII Olympic Congress - Copenhagen 2009

More about IOC history

Evolution of the IOC

Founded at the first Olympic Congress in Paris in 1894, the IOC is the leader of the Olympic Movement and the guardian of the Olympic Games. It acts as a catalyst for collaboration across the entire Olympic community. Discover some of the key milestones in the IOC’s history, from the first publication of the Olympic Charter in 1908 to the founding of the Executive Board in 1921 to the first ever Olympism in Action Forum in 2018.

Lausanne, Olympic capital

The IOC was originally based in Paris, until Pierre de Coubertin moved it to Lausanne on the shores of Lake Geneva in 1915. In 1994, to coincide with the centenary of the IOC, Lausanne was officially designated the Olympic Capital. Read here to discover more about the relationship between the IOC and the city it calls home.

IOC Presidents

Since the creation of the IOC in 1894, there have been nine presidents. The president is elected by the Session in a secret ballot among the IOC Members. Today, the president is elected for a term of office of eight years, renewable once for a period of four years. The current President is Thomas Bach – meet him and his predecessors here.