Olympic Diploma of Merit

The Olympic Diploma of Merit (not to be confused with the Olympic Diploma awarded to athletes) was an award given by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to recognise outstanding services to sports or a notable contribution to the Olympic Games. By 1974, the last time the awards were granted, just 58 people had received the award.[1][2]

History

Pierre de Coubertin, the originator of the modern Olympic Games, created the honour during the Brussels Olympic Congress of 1905 for those who had made outstanding services to sports or to those who had a major contribution in promoting the Olympic ideals. Strangely, at the 1908 Summer Olympics in London, where red, blue and yellow vouchers were exchanged by the first three athletes for gold, silver and bronze medals respectively, a non-winning competitor's blue voucher could be exchanged for a 'Diploma of Merit' (equivalent of the Olympic Diploma). [3] Sports people who have won the award include Englishman Jack Beresford, winner of medals at five successive Olympics, Dane Ivan Osiier who took part in seven Olympic Games over 28 years, missing the 1936 Games as a protest against Nazism[4] and Frenchman Jean Borotra, Olympic bronze medallist in the Men's Doubles in 1924, winner of four different tennis Grand Slam titles and founder of the International Fair Play Committee.[1]

Sports administrators and promoters who have received the award include Sir Herbert Macdonald, four-time team manager for the Jamaican Olympic Team, and Sir Stanley Rous, former Secretary of The Football Association and the 6th President of FIFA (and one of the last three winners along with Jean Borotra).[1] The award has also gone to those working in the arts: architect Kenzō Tange received the award for his design of the Japanese National Gymnasium for the 1964 Olympics, and film director Kon Ichikawa received one for his celebrated, athlete-focused 1965 documentary film Tokyo Olympiad ((Tōkyō Orinpikku)).[5]

The IOC discontinued the Olympic Diploma of Merit, and three other awards, at the 75th IOC session in 1974. The two extant awards are the Olympic Order, created in 1975 for distinguished contributions to the Olympic movement, and the Olympic Cup, instituted in 1906 by Coubertin for organisations with a record of support for the Olympics and presented annually. [6]

List of Olympic Diploma of Merit awards

A listing of all 57 recipients:[7]

No. Recipient Country
1President Theodore RooseveltUnited States
2Fridjhof NansenNorway
3Santos DumontBrazil
4Lord DesboroughUnited Kingdom
5The Duke of the AbruzzisItaly
6Commandant LancrenonFrance
7Count ZeppelinGermany
8Colonel BalckSweden
9Dr. Jean CharcotFrance
10George ChavezPeru
11H. M. King Alphonso XIIISpain
12H. H. Crown Prince of GermanyGermany
13Alain GerbaultFrance
14Colonel Charles LindberghUnited States
15Captain Harry PidgeonUnited States
16Mr HostinFrance
17Leni RiefenstahlGermany
18Angelo C. BolanakiGreece
19Dr. Paul MartinSwitzerland
20Jack BeresfordUnited Kingdom
21Dr. Ivan OsiierDenmark
22Guatemalan Olympic CommitteeGuatemala
23"Les Enfants de Neptune", TourcoingFrance
24Dr. Fr. M. MesserliSwitzerland
25Bill HenryUnited States
26Harry Neville AmosNew Zealand
27Alfréd HajósHungary
28Jeanette AltweggUnited Kingdom
29Charles DenisFrance
30Colonel Marco Perez JimenezVenezuela
31Dr. Carl DiemGermany
32Antoine HafnerSwitzerland
33The Rt. Hon. R. G. MenziesAustralia
34Otto Mayer, Chancellor of the IOCSwitzerland
35Maurice GenevoixFrance
36Nikolai RomanovUSSR
37H. R. H. Prince AxelDenmark
38Victor BoinBelgium
39Rudolph HagelstangeGermany
40Kenzo TangeJapan
41Burhan FelekTurkey
42Joseph BarthelLuxembourg
43Joseph A. GrussCzechoslovakia
44Antonio ElolaSpain
45Kon IchikawaJapan
46Sir Herbert McDonaldJamaica
47Vernon MorganUnited Kingdom
48Francisco Nobre GuedesPortugal
49Jean-Francois BrissonFrance
50Gaston MeyerFrance
51Andres Merce VarelaSpain
52Frederick RuegseggerUnited States
53Epaminondas PetraliasGreece
54Otl AicherGermany
55Sir Stanley RousUnited Kingdom
56The Rt. Hon. Lord Philip Noel-BakerUnited Kingdom
57Jean BorotraFrance
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References
  1. 1974 Olympic Awards. "Three Olympic Diplomas of Merit" (PDF). la84.org. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  2. The Olympic Diploma of Merit. "Vernon Morgan" (PDF). la84.org. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  3. Olympics. "Photos of 1908 memorabilia". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  4. International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame. "Ivan Osiier". www.jewishsports.net. Retrieved 25 October 2017.
  5. Findling, John E.; Pelle, Kimberly D. (2004). Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement. Westport: Greenwood Press. p. 172.
  6. Mallon, Bill; Heijmans, Jeroen (2015). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (5 ed.). Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield. p. 423.
  7. Olympic Charter 1983. Comite International Olympique. 1983. pp. 142–143.
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