Charles Coste, the world’s oldest living Olympic champion, died last Thursday at the age of 101. This was announced by French Sports Minister Marina Ferrari on X.
“It is with great sadness that I learned of the death of Charles Coste, the 1948 London Olympic champion who carried the torch for the 2024 Paris Olympics. At 101, he leaves behind an immense sporting legacy,” Ferrari wrote.
Olympic triumph at the first games after the World War
Coste became the world’s oldest Olympic champion after Hungarian artistic gymnast Agnes Keleti died on January 2, 2025 at the age of 103.
At the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics in Paris on July 26, 2024, the former French cyclist Coste, sitting in a wheelchair as a torchbearer, handed over the Olympic flame to France’s judo star Teddy Riner and the three-time French Olympic athletics champion Marie-José Pérec, who then lit the Olympic flame.
Coste, who was born in Ollioules in the south of France, won the Olympic gold medal in the team pursuit in track cycling in London in 1948 with his teammates Serge Blusson, Fernand Decanali and Pierre Adam, who had already died.
He also won the 1949 Grand Prix des Nations, a 140-kilometer time trial, defeating Italy’s Tour de France and Giro d’Italia winner Fausto Coppi. He also won Paris-Limoges and the Tour of Monaco in 1953. He ended his active cycling career in 1959 and in 2022 Coste was made a Knight of the French Legion of Honor.
“Winning the Olympic gold medal is unforgettable – simply an indescribable joy. We were overjoyed, even though the British had forgotten to sing the Marseillaise for us,” Coste recalled in a conversation with the “olympics.org” portal in July this year. “Personally, I’ve always cared about my opponents and made some lifelong friends through the sport. I hope that’s the legacy I leave behind.”
