Charles Coste, oldest French Olympic champion, decorated with the Legion of Honor 74 years after his title

“I am delighted to have you.” Leaning on his cane in front of his front door, Charles Coste, 98, welcomes us to his apartment in Bois-Colombes (Hauts-de-Seine) with a broad smile. And for good reason, after having been somewhat forgotten by the world of sport, he is happy to find today the light of the winners. He is the only living French Olympic champion not to have been decorated with the Legion of Honor.

The procedure only became automatic in 1952, four years after its title. On Wednesday April 16, at the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee in Saint-Denis, this anomaly will be repaired. Olympic champion in the team pursuit in track cycling at the London Games in 1948, Charles Coste will be decorated, 74 years after his title, by Tony Estanguet, president of the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Games.

“I am very happy, especially since it is Mr. Estanguet who is giving me the Legion of Honor because I greatly admire his sporting career. It will be a wonderful moment. I dedicate it to my three comrades, Pierre Adam, Serge Blusson, Fernand Decanali, because there were four of us on the podium. I haven’t forgotten them”. testifies Charles Coste, already moved a few days before the ceremony.

Crowned in London at the Herne Hill velodrome (south-east of the city), the Habs even managed the feat of beating the title favorites, who were none other than the English. “We had raced the track several times in London so we knew it very well. We even set the track record at the start of 1948,” remembers without hesitation the former captain of the France team, still proud of this achievement. “I knew we were going to win, and the joy when crossing the finish line was immense”, recounts Charles Coste leafing through a thick book with a black cover.

This book retraces his entire sporting career. Inside, hundreds of photos and press clippings, ranging from short stories to glowing articles about his rising career, take the reader back to the late 1940s and the following decade.

A few pages later, Charles Coste pauses and points to the photo of the 1948 Olympic podium. “The podium was very small. All four of us were cramped on the box”, he laughs. His only regret: not having had the right to his Marseillaise on D-Day. “At the time, we were told that they had not found the disc. But the French camp still sang a Marseillaise a cappella”, he smiled.

Again leaning on his cane, Charles Coste guides us into the “medal room”, at the back of his apartment. If a few photos of him, during his cycling years, decorate the room, the display of his exploits remains discreet. “He is modest compared to what he has achieved”, slips Yvette, his wife.

“London was still under the rubble of German bombardment and there were still the ration tickets. It was still a pretty tough time.”

Charles Coste, Olympic team pursuit champion at the London Olympics in 1948

at franceinfo: sport

Above the desk, a glass frame sits proudly. Behind the glass is exposed all of his charms won during his career. In the middle, the Olympic medallion quickly catches the eye. At the time, the medals were given in a box, and not around the neck. On this one, we can see the traditional goddess of victory and the inscription “XIVth OLYMPIAD LONDON 1948”. “It is not gold, but gilded silver, because at the time we had just come out of the war, and there was not much silver”, he says, gesturing to his medal.

Indeed, these 1948 Games were the first since the end of the Second World War, in 1945. Initially planned in Tokyo, they were reallocated a few months before in London. “These were somewhat austere Games, he remembers. The athletes did not have an Olympic village. They were therefore housed in military camps. “In our case, we moved to a US Air Force training camp, which had served during the war and was then reused for the Games”, says the native of Ollioules (Var).

Once his Olympic medal in his pocket, Charles Coste turned professional in 1949. “I waited to do the Games before turning professional. (you had to be an amateur to participate) on the advice of my manager Paul Ruinart who told me one day: ‘when you are an Olympic champion, you will be one all your life’. Today, I see that he was right.” slips Charles Coste, with his mischievous smile.

For his first year as a professional, he won the Grand Prix des Nations – 140 km on the road -, the biggest French race of the time after Paris-Roubaix. “I was aiming for second place, because I expected Fausto Coppi (one of the greatest riders in the history of cycling with notably two victories in the Tour de France, and five in the Tour of Italy, and a title of world champion on the road) wins it. Unfortunately for him, he was tired that day, and I imposed myself.” explains the Olympic champion.

Then followed a fourth place in the Paris-Roubaix in 1950, then a stage in the Tour of North Africa and two stages in the Tour of Argentina in 1952, before winning the Paris-Limoges in 1953, “the longest French race with its 340 km”, says Charles Coste. The Tour de France, on the other hand, never smiled on him: after a withdrawal in 1950 the day before the start because of an abscess in the throat, he was forced to retire, each time during the first stages, in 1952 and 1957.

In 1959, he decided to put an end to his career and began a new one far from cycling, within the Blanchisserie de Grenelle where he would spend his entire career. “But I always continued cycling for my pleasure with my loved ones, and followed the major cycling races”, he assures. Still today, “he does not miss one”, confirms his wife Yvette.

His passion has remained intact for more than 80 years, as has his pride in representing France. “I have represented my country in many competitions and many countries. So even today, when I hear the Marseillaise, I still have the chills,” book Charles Coste, who will celebrate his centenary in 2024. Will the Paris 2024 committee pay tribute to him during the opening ceremony? “For the moment, nothing has been mentioned. But I would like it,” concludes the one who, 74 years after his title, still vibrates as much at the call of the Olympic Games.