International Olympic Committee

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The International Olympic Committee is an international, non-governmental association of individuals originally organized in 1894 for the purpose of overseeing the modern revival of the Ancient Olympic Games and the "Olympic Movement" generally. It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland.

New members are selected, from time to time, by the other members of the IOC themselves as they deem appropriate. There are at most 115 members at any given time.

The IOC is one of the three main constituents of the Olympic Movement, the other two being various National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs). The NOCs and IFs are not themselves members of the IOC, but rather are "recognized" by the IOC as having jurisdiction over the recognized Olympic sports. The NOCs have organizational jurisdiction over such sports in their respective countries, which includes selecting their respective national Olympic teams, while the IFs have world-wide jurisdiction over a particular sport, which includes, inter alia, the setting and administration of rules and competitions for their respective sports.

The IOC coordinates the "Olympic Movement" and, as part of its function, selects host cities and organizers for both the Winter Olympic Games and the Summer Olympic Games. The organizing committees accomplish the actual task of organizing the Olympic Games.

Among the IOC's stated objectives are the promotion of ethics and fair play in sport, the end of discrimination in sport, and the promotion of women in sport, as well as initiatives for youth in sport. The IOC's anti-doping policy is a focus of the August, 2008 games in Beijing, China.

The IOC also maintains the official website of the Olympic movement [1].