International Olympic Committee (IOC)

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stands at the very top of the Olympic Movement. It was constituted by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894, with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president. It is a non-governmental, non-profit organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its official languages are English and French. The object of the IOC is to fulfil the mission, role and responsibilities assigned to it by the Olympic Charter. It is the official and supreme authority that spreads the Olympic Movement worldwide through the International Sports Federations, the National Olympic Committees, the Organising Committees and bodies such as the United Nations, and it holds the rights over the Olympic Games, the symbols and the other elements of the Movement.

What the IOC organises

The Committee organises the Summer and Winter Olympic Games (begun in Athens in 1896 and Chamonix in 1924 respectively). Before 1992 the Winter and Summer Games were held in the same year; after 1992 the schedule was changed so that the Summer Games take place in each leap year and the Winter Games two years later. The IOC also organises the Youth Olympic Games (YOG) - the first Summer YOG in Singapore in 2010 and the first Winter YOG in Innsbruck in 2012. …