4 minutes 54 seconds and 74 years of patience.
On August 9, 1948, Charles Coste won the Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit in track cycling in 4′54′, at the London velodrome.
But since then, he had been waiting to receive the Legion of Honor as all French Olympic champions traditionally hang it on their jacket.
But it is only since 1952 that gold medalists receive it automatically.
"I was champion four years too early", told us a few years ago the one who had refused to turn professional to satisfy his dream of participating in the Olympic Games.
He would later become a member of the Peugeot team, winning a few prestigious victories along the way.
Since then, and without anyone being able to explain it, Charles Coste had been forgotten by the sports world and despaired of one day receiving the Legion of Honor.
At 98, he is the oldest French Olympic champion and the only undecorated.
But in 2022, after 74 years of waiting, the anomaly was repaired.
It was on the premises of the Paris 2024 Games Organizing Committee (OCOG) that Charles Coste received his Legion of Honor from the hands of Tony Estanguet, President of the OCOG 2024. In front of a hundred people including Brigitte Henriques, the president of the CNOSF, or of the famous Olympic champions (Florian Rousseau, Thierry Rey, Sébastien Flute, etc.), Tony Estanguet drew up the panegyric of Charles Costes.
“We make you Chevalier of the Legion of Honor.
It is a source of pride to honor the oldest Olympic champion in this way, he explains.
I feel a little, without knowing you, like your heir.
Your victory paved the way for many.
Beyond your medal, let's also remember that you won the Grand Prix des Nations in 1949, notably beating the immense Fausto Coppi”.
If he walked with difficulty, the man of the day thanked the assistance with emotion and humor.
"I didn't expect to wait that long but it was worth it," he smiled.
This Legion of Honor is also for my three comrades from the French pursuit team.
»
Before announcing that Charles Coste would be the guest of honor at the 2024 Paris Games, the year of his future centenary, Tony Estanguet had the delicacy to play the Marseillaise.
On August 9, 1948, no one had sounded it because the English organizers had misplaced the disc.
Another oversight nicely repaired.
