Agency :
Charles Coste did not get to hear La Marseillaise when he stood on top of the podium at the 1948 Summer Games in London, but France’s oldest living Olympic medallist will get another moment in the spotlight when he carries the Paris 2024 torch.
Coste, who turns 100 on Thursday, won a track cycling Olympic gold in the team pursuit with Pierre Adam, Serge Blusson and Fernand Decanali.
His record also includes the 1949 Grand Prix des Nations, a 140-km time trial in which he beat Italian Fausto Coppi, a Tour de France and Giro d’Italia champion.
Coste’s gold is framed along with others, notably a medal he received from then President Vincent Auriol, in a room in his apartment in the Paris suburbs.
“It was a great honor to receive the medal from President Auriol, but the most valuable one is the Olympic medal,” Coste told Reuters.