France reclaims British cyclist's 1900 Olympic silver medal

In a surprising turn of events, France has been awarded a silver medal from the 1900 Paris Olympics, originally won by British cyclist Lloyd Hildebrand. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) made the decision to reallocate the medal to France, citing that Hildebrand competed as part of a French club during an era when medals were awarded based on the country of the sports federation with which an athlete was associated, rather. than his nationality.

Born in 1870 in Tottenham, London, Hildebrand spent most of his life in France and died in 1924 in the Parisian suburb of Levallois-Perret. He took second place in the men's 25km cycling race at the 1900 Summer Games in Paris. According to the IOC, Hildebrand, despite being a British citizen, was raised in France and represented a French club before and after of the 1900 Paris Olympics.

In the early 1900s, many National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were not yet established. Athletes were affiliated with the sports federation of the country where they were based, and the medals they won were attributed to that nation. The IOC explained that athletes only had to provide their license number, issued by the national federation where they usually competed. The NOCs were not involved in the process as they are today.

The request to change the medal attribution was made by Stéphane Gachet, a French sports writer specializing in French Olympic medals. Gachet noted that the rule requiring athletes to register for the Games by their country of nationality was only introduced in 1920. Before then, registration procedures were more informal and managed by clubs.

Gachet's research and French archives reveal that Hildebrand always competed under the banner of the Club des Sports, a sports society based in Levallois-Perret, where the cyclist resided. The British Olympic Association acknowledged the change in medal status, noting that they have benefited from similar circumstances in the past and expressed their determination to regain a medal in the future.