Brundage served on a commission

appointed at the IOC's London session

in 1948 to recommend whether the 1906
Intercalated Games, held in Athens,
should be considered a full Olympic
Games. All three members of what
came to be known as the Brundage
Commission were from the Western
Hemisphere and met in New Orleans in
January 1949. The commission found
that there was nothing to be gained by
recognizing the 1906 games as
Olympic, and it might set an
embarrassing precedent. The full IOC
endorsed the report when it met later
that year in Rome.[65]
Edström intended to retire following
the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki,
when a successor would be elected.
Brundage's rival for the presidency
was Great Britain's Lord Burghley, an
Olympic gold medalist in track in 1928
and president of the International
Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF). The
balloting took place at the IOC session
in the Finnish capital before the Games.
Although Brundage was the executive
board's candidate, he was disliked by
some IOC members; others felt that the
president should be a European. Private
notes kept during the balloting reveal it
to have been very close, but on the 25th
and final ballot, Brundage received
30 votes to 17 for Burghley and was
elected.[66]