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French cyclist Charles Coste, the oldest living Olympian and a 1948 gold medalist, has died, the International Olympic Committee confirmed Monday. He was 101.
“We have to say goodbye to an Olympic champion in cycling from London 1948 and the penultimate torchbearer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Charles Coste,” IOC President Kirsty Coventry said in a statement.
Torch bearer Charles Coste (center) passes the torch to French athlete Marie-José Pérec (right) and French judo practitioner Teddy Riner (second right) at the Gardens of the Tuileries during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (Al Bello/Getty Images)
“At 101 years old, he was the oldest living Olympic champion. The image of him passing the Olympic flame to Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec in the rain of Paris during the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 went around the world. He will be remembered forever. Our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.”
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Coste, who was the second-to-last Olympian to light the Olympic flame at the 2024 Paris Games, died last Thursday, according to French President Emmanuel Macron’s office.
The statement said Coste was “until his final breath, the tireless messenger of a certain idea of sport.”
Coste won gold at the 1948 Olympic Games in London in the team pursuit. Just a year earlier, he earned his first medal after winning the individual pursuit at the 1947 French amateur championships. Shortly after winning his Olympic medal, the French cyclist won bronze at the 1948 World Championships.
Charles Coste at the finish of the Grand Prix des Nations in Paris, France, on Sept. 18, 1949. (Keystone-France/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)
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He retired in 1959, having competed in, but not finished, two Tours de France.
Coste’s excellence, which included a 39-second victory over Italy in the 1948 Games for the greatest margin in Olympic history, was remembered in Paris last year when he, seated in a wheelchair, passed the flame to French Olympians Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec.
“Charles Coste has left us, I had the immense honor of him passing the Olympic flame to me during the Paris 2024 Games,” Riner said of the moment in a post on social media.
French cyclist and Olympic champion in the team pursuit at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, Charles Coste attends a ceremony to receive the Légion d’honneur at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Saint-Denis, outside Paris, on April 13, 2022. (FRANCK FIFE/AFP via Getty Images)
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“This moment symbolized the passion and transmission that drove him. Charles Coste represented commitment, respect, and the love of sport in all its forms. His journey commands admiration and his legacy will continue to inspire generations to come.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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