However, Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the International Olympic Committee, opposed this, as he had intended for the first Games to be in Paris in 1900.

After Paris had lost the première Olympics, De Coubertin did not want the games to be permanently hosted elsewhere.

[6] The 1900 Games were overshadowed by the Exposition Universelle,[7] whose organising committee disagreed with De Coubertin's ideas to such an extent that he resigned.

The organisation of the 1900 Games was haphazard by today's standards, and although some events, such as archery, drew widespread attention, many others were poorly attended.

[9] The 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis, Missouri were overshadowed by the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, and their organisation was even worse than that of Paris 1900, while travel difficulties meant that only 20% of the athletes were non-American; of these, half were Canadian.

It was clear the Olympic Movement was in a dire situation and desperately needed to recapture the spirit of Athens 1896.

It also needed to do so quickly, as to those who did not participate in St. Louis, 1908 was a gap of eight years, by which time there would be little, if any, goodwill left for the Games.

To make matters worse, Rome, the proposed host for 1908, was also planning an exhibition at the same time as the Games, which had been responsible for the failures of Paris and St. Louis.

[citation needed] The 1906 games are noted for their opening and closing ceremonies, which initiated this tradition.

[4] These were the first games to include an opening ceremony with athletes marching into the stadium as national teams behind their flags.

While there had been serious political tensions in the Balkans, the modern Greeks found out their ancient ancestors were right: a two-year interval was too short.

Hence, the IOC currently does not recognise Athens 1906 as Olympic Games, and does not regard any events occurring there (such as the setting of new records or the winning of medals) as official.

As the next Games are always built on the successes of the last, the innovations of Athens were used again in London, and eventually became Olympic tradition.