Greek Olympic officials and many of the participants in the 1896 Olympic Games petitioned the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to hold the Olympic Games in Athens permanently. Although Baron Pierre de Coubertin rejected the proposal, insisting that the games would be held in a different city every four years, other IOC officials searched for a compromise. At its 1901 meeting the IOC addressed the Greek question and considered a proposal that Athens and another city alternately host the Olympic Games every two years. Coubertin remained opposed to the idea, suggesting that if the Greeks had to hold a quadrennial athletic event they should call it the Panhellenic Games to distinguish it from the Olympic Games. IOC officials, however, overruled Coubertin, whose authority, as secretary-general had been weakened by the problems associated with the 1900 games, and proclaimed that Athens would host the Olympic Games in 1906.

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