Luxembourg at the Olympics
The Luxembourgish Olympic and Sporting Committee (COSL) not established until 1912, though Luxembourg had an athlete compete in the 1900 Summer Games in Paris, France. Michel Théato was Luxembourg's sole representative at the 1900 Summer Games and he won the gold in the marathon, however France claimed the medal since Théato ran for one of the French clubs during that time. With the absence of an Olympic committee to argue the case for Luxembourg, even though Théato's birth certificate clearly states that he was born there, the medal remained credited with France.
Luxembourg chose not to participate in the next two Summer Games and come back in 1912 after their Olympic committee was formed. In 1920, weightlifter Joseph Alzin won Luxembourg's first-ever official Olympic medal when he took the silver in the men's heavyweight division.
In 1924, Luxembourg artist Jean Jacoby won the gold medal in the painting competition, officially Luxembourg's first gold medallist. He won gold again in 1928, and is the most successful Olympic artist ever.
In 1952, Josy Barthel won Luxembourg's first-ever official Olympic gold medal in a sporting event when he narrowly won the men's 1500 meters.
For the Winter Olympic Games, Luxembourg made its official debut in 1928. They went on to miss the 1932 Winter Games as well as all of the Winter Olympics from 1948 all the way to 1984. In 1992, however, alpine skier Marc Girardelli put an end to Luxembourg's dry spell in the Winter Games when he took the silver for both the men's super-G and men's giant slalom.
Trivia
- Michel Théato, who was born in Luxembourg, won the gold medal in the marathon at the 1900 Games, although his win was attributed to France at the time, and is still considered a medal to France.
- The only other Olympic gold medal won by an athlete from Luxembourg was by Joseph Barthel, the surprise winner of the Men's 1500 meters at the 1952 Summer Olympics.
Related Pages
- Luxembourg at the Winter Olympics
- List of all countries that have participated at the Olympic Games.
- About sport in Luxembourg
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