Charles Coste
The world’s oldest Olympic champion is dead
Charles Coste was the torchbearer at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris. Now the 1948 Olympic champion has died.
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.
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 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.
We had to say goodbye to these celebrities this year
Sam Rivers
Sam Rivers was only 48 years old. The American musician died on October 18th. He was the bassist of the nu-metal band Limp Bizkit and also a founding member. The band expressed their sadness on Instagram, but did not give a cause of death. “Sam Rivers wasn’t just our bassist – he was pure magic. The pulse under every song, the calm in the chaos, the soul in the sound,” were the moving words of his fellow musicians.
© Gonzales Photo/Christian Hjorth / Imago Images
More
Open caption
Back
Further
Charles Coste became Olympic champion in 1948
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 – just an indescribable joy. We were overjoyed, even though the British had forgotten to sing the Marseillaise for us,” Coste recalled in a conversation with olympics.org 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.”
DPA
be
