Editing 1900 Summer Olympics (section)

== Organization ==
The 1900 Games were held as part of the {{lang|fr|[[Exposition Universelle (1900)|1900 Exposition Universelle]]|italic=no}}. The Baron de Coubertin believed this would help public awareness of the Olympics and submitted elaborate plans to rebuild the ancient site of [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], complete with statues, temples, stadia, and gymnasia. The director of the Exposition Universelle, Alfred Picard, thought holding an ancient sport event at the Exposition Universelle was an "absurd anachronism".<ref name=Googlebooks>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Y11yO-0bNU4C&pg=PA172 Cropper, Corry: ''Playing at monarchy: sport as a metaphor in nineteenth-century France''] Accessed through [[Google Books]], Retrieved 1 March 2010</ref> After thanking de Coubertin for his plans, Picard filed them away and nothing more came of it.

A committee was formed for the organization of the Games, consisting of some of the more able sports administrators of the day, and a provisional program was drawn up. Sports to be included at the games were [[track and field athletics]], [[swimming (sport)|swimming]], [[wrestling]], [[artistic gymnastics|gymnastics]], [[fencing]], [[savate|French]] and [[boxing|British boxing]], river and ocean [[yacht racing]], [[cycle sport|cycling]], [[golf]], [[lifesaving]], [[Archery at the Summer Olympics|archery]], [[Olympic weightlifting|weightlifting]], [[rowing (sport)|rowing]], [[diving (sport)|diving]], and [[water polo]].

British and Irish sports associations and several influential American universities and sports clubs announced their desire to compete. Competitors from Russia and Australia also confirmed their intentions to travel to Paris.

[[File:Btv1b8433332t-p014 (cropped)1A Square.jpg|thumb|right|[[Vélodrome de Vincennes]]]]

On 9 November 1898, the [[Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques]] ("Union of the French Societies for Athletic Sports" or USFSA) announced that it would have the sole right to any organized sport held during the World's Fair. It was an empty threat, but [[Viscount]] Charles de La Rochefoucauld, the nominated head of the organizing committee, stepped down rather than be embroiled in the political battle.
The Baron de Coubertin, also secretary-general of the USFSA, was urged to withdraw from active involvement in running the Games and did so, only to comment later, "I surrendered—and was incorrect in doing so."

The [[IOC]] ceded control of the Games to a new committee to oversee every sporting activity connected to the 1900 Exposition Universelle. Alfred Picard appointed [[Daniel Mérillon]], the head of the French Shooting Association, as president of this organization in February 1899. Mérillon published an entirely different schedule of events, which resulted in many of those who had made plans to compete with the original program withdrawing and refusing to deal with the new committee.

Between May and October 1900, the new organizing committee held many sporting activities alongside the Paris Exposition. The term "Olympic" rarely used in sporting events. Indeed, the term "Olympic Games" was replaced by "''Concours internationaux d'exercices physiques et de sport''" ("International contests of physical exercises and of sport" in English) in the official report of the sporting events of the 1900 Exposition Universelle. The press reported competitions variously as "International Championships", "International Games", "Paris Championships", "World Championships" and "Grand Prix of the Paris Exposition".

These poorly organized games, along with those of 1904, were termed decades later by several historians "The Farcical Games."<ref>Howell, Maxwell L., and Reet N. Howell. "The 1900 and 1904 Olympic Games: The Farcical Games." Paper presented to the VI International Association of the History of Sport and Physical Education Seminar, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, July 1976.</ref> Years later, many competitors were unaware that they had competed in the Olympics.<ref name="Mallon"/>{{rp|ix}} While there is an Official Report of these Games,<ref name="report">{{cite book|title=Exposition Universelle Internationale de 1900 a Paris. Concours Internationaux D'Exercices Physiques et de Sports. Rapports Publies Sous La Direction de M. D. Merillon.|author=Ministere du Commerce de L'Industrie des Postes et des Telegraphes|location = Paris|date=1902|publisher=Imprimerie Nationale}}</ref> complete records of results do not exist.<ref name="Mallon"/>{{rp|ix}} De Coubertin commented later to friends, "It's a miracle that the Olympic Movement survived that celebration".

[[File:Kraenzlein Hurdling.jpg|thumb|right|Alvin Kraenzlein<br />Winner of the 60&nbsp;m, the 110&nbsp;m hurdles, the 200&nbsp;m hurdles, and the long jump]]