 When de Coubertin joined the French army in 1916 de Blonay became acting president of the IOC.A little bit earlier, when de Coubertin nearly ran out of money and took a back seat, de Blonay had been appointed to run an International Olympic executive committee, in lieu of the president.However, it has been suggested that he somehow upset de Coubertin by over-stretching the powers of this committee and it was this that may have caused him, surprisingly, not to have been chosen to succeed as the third IOC president in 1925.