In 1889 the Argentine government appointed him, along with Alejo Peyret, to represent his country at the Paris Exposition. He participated in the International Congress for the Propagation of Physical Exercise in Education, which organizer was the Baron Pierre de Coubertin, future inspirer of the modern Olympic Games. There, Zubiaur met Baron de Coubertin, who appointed him to integrate in 1894 the first International Olympic Committee, the unique representative of a Spanish-American country, a position in which he served until 1907.