International Olympic Committee

• The International Olympic Committee is a non-profit and non-governmental organization.

• Pierre de Coubertin who is known as the father of Modern Olympics created the IOC on 23rd June 1894.

• The Greek business man Demetrios Vikelas chosen as the first President of International Olympic Committee.

• The motto of the International Olympic Committee is Faster, Higher and Stronger.

• The primary symbol of the Olympic Games is composed of five interlocking rings. The colors of the rings are blue, yellow, black, green, and red which represent five continents of the world. The symbol was designed in 1912 by Baron Pierre de Coubertin.

• The headquarters of the IOC is located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

• IOC conducts summer and winter Olympics after every four years.

• The first summer Olympics was held in Athens, Greece in 1896, while the winter Olympics was first held in Chamonix, France, in 1924.

• Today its membership consists of 105 active members, 32 honorary members, and 1 honour member.

• The medals given to winners were started from 1904 summer Olympics.

• Each medal (Gold, Silver and Bronze) is 85 mm in diameter and between 8-10 mm thick. The gold and silver medals weigh 412 grams and the bronze medal weighs 357 grams.

• The United States has hosted maximum number of Summer Olympics with four (1904, 1932, 1984, and 1996).

• Summer Olympics was cancelled three times in the history in 1916, 1940 and 1944 due to World War.