The Pierre de Coubertin medal (also known as the De Coubertin medal or the True Spirit of Sportsmanship medal) is a special medal

Medal

A medal, or medallion, is generally a circular object that has been sculpted, molded, cast, struck, stamped, or some way rendered with an insignia, portrait, or other artistic rendering. A medal may be awarded to a person or organization as a form of recognition for athletic, military, scientific,...

 given by the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

 to those athletes who demonstrate the spirit of sportsmanship

Sportsmanship

Sportsmanship is an aspiration or ethos that a sport or activity will be enjoyed for its own sake, with proper consideration for fairness, ethics, respect, and a sense of fellowship with one's competitors...

 in Olympic events

Olympic Games

The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...

.

The medal was inaugurated in 1964 and named in honour of Pierre de Coubertin

Pierre de Coubertin

Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...

, founder of the International Olympic Committee

International Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...

. According to the Olympic Museum, "it is one of the noblest honours that can be bestowed upon an Olympic athlete."

Recipients

Athlete	Country	Event	Date	Place
Luz Long Luz Long Carl Ludwig "Luz" Long was a German Olympic athlete, notable for winning Silver at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin and for giving advice to his competitor, Jesse Owens, who went on to win the gold medal for the broad jump as a result of Long's advice.Long was killed in...	Germany	1936 Summer Olympics 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...	Awarded posthumously	Berlin Berlin Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union... , Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek Emil Zátopek was a Czech long-distance runner best known for winning three gold medals at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He won gold in the 5000 metres and 10,000 metres runs, but his final medal came when he decided at the last minute to compete in the first marathon of his life...	Czechoslovakia	1952 Summer Olympics 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Helsinki, Finland in 1952. Helsinki had been earlier given the 1940 Summer Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II...	December 6, 2000 (Awarded posthumously)	Helsinki Helsinki Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is... , Finland Finland Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Eugenio Monti Eugenio Monti Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of this sport, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals, but is known also for an act of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria that made him the first...	Italy	1964 Winter Olympics 1964 Winter Olympics The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...	1964	Innsbruck Innsbruck - Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus... , Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Karl Heinz Klee Karl Heinz Klee Karl Heinz Klee was an Austrian sports official and a lawyer.-Life:Karl Heinz Klee was an avid skier and as a lawyer also frequently dealt with legal issues concerning skiing. From 1966 to 1972 he was president and after that honorary president of the Austrian Ski Federation...	Austria	1976 Winter Olympics 1976 Winter Olympics The 1976 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 4–15, 1976 in Innsbruck, Austria...	February 1977	Innsbruck Innsbruck - Main sights :- Buildings :*Golden Roof*Kaiserliche Hofburg *Hofkirche with the cenotaph of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor*Altes Landhaus... , Austria Austria Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
Franz Jonas Franz Jonas Franz Josef Jonas was an Austrian political figure. He served as the seventh President of Austria, between 1965 and 1974....	Austria	-	July 1969	-
Lawrence Lemieux Lawrence Lemieux Lawrence Lemieux is a Canadian sailor, who competed at the 1984 Summer Olympics in the Star Class and at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the Finn class....	Canada	1988 Summer Olympics 1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...	September 1988	Seoul Seoul Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world... , South Korea South Korea The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
Raymond Gafner Raymond Gafner Raymond Gafner was an ice hockey player, referee, and a member of the IOC between 1969 and 1990.-Biography:...	Switzerland	-	1999	-
Tana Umaga Tana Umaga Jonathan Ionatana Falefasa "Tana" Umaga, ONZM is a New Zealand rugby union footballer and former captain of the national team, the All Blacks. He played for the Hurricanes starting with the Super 12's inception in 1996 and took over the captaincy in 2003...	New Zealand	2003 Rugby Test Match	June 2003	Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... , Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... , United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Spencer Eccles Spencer Eccles Spencer Fox Eccles is a prominent financier and philanthropist in Salt Lake City, Utah and chairman emeritus of the Intermountain Region of Wells Fargo Corporation...	United States	2002 Winter Olympics 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...	February 2002	Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197... , United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Vanderlei de Lima Vanderlei de Lima Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima is a former long-distance runner who specialised in marathons. He received international renown after a spectator, a laicized Irish priest, attacked him at the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon while he was leading the race at 35 km...	Brazil	2004 Summer Olympics 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad, was a premier international multi-sport event held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto Welcome Home. 10,625 athletes competed, some 600 more than expected, accompanied by 5,501 team...	August 29, 2004	Athens Athens Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state... , Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
Elena Novikova-Belova Elena Novikova-Belova Elena Novikova-Belova is a Soviet fencer and four times Olympic champion in foil competitions.She received four gold medals, one silver and one bronze medal in the foil at the Summer Olympics from 1968 to 1980....	Belarus	2007 XI International Scientific Congress	May 17, 2007	Minsk Minsk - Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened... , Belarus Belarus Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...

Quotations

“Nash didn't win because I gave him the bolt. He won because he had the fastest run.”

—Eugenio Monti

Eugenio Monti

Eugenio Monti was an Italian bobsledder. He is one of the most successful athletes in the history of this sport, with ten World championship medals and 6 Olympic medals, but is known also for an act of sportsmanship during the 1964 Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria that made him the first...

 when interviewed after giving a bolt from his own bobsled to his competitors, the British bobsled team, at the 1964 Winter Olympics

1964 Winter Olympics

The 1964 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Innsbruck, Austria, from January 29 to February 9, 1964...

. Monti was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for his sportsmanship.

“It took a lot of courage for him to befriend me in front of Hitler... You can melt down all the medals and cups I have and they wouldn't be a plating on the twenty-four karat

Carat (purity)

The karat or carat is a unit of purity for gold alloys.- Measure :Karat purity is measured as 24 times the purity by mass:where...

 friendship that I felt for Lutz Long at that moment."

—Jesse Owens

Jesse Owens

James Cleveland "Jesse" Owens was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprints and the long jump. He participated in the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany, where he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals: one each in the 100 meters, the 200 meters, the...

 after being advised by his competitor, Lutz Long, at the 1936 Summer Olympics

1936 Summer Olympics

The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event which was held in 1936 in Berlin, Germany. Berlin won the bid to host the Games over Barcelona, Spain on April 26, 1931, at the 29th IOC Session in Barcelona...

. Long was posthumously awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for his sportsmanship.

"I can't accept Emanuel's medal. I'm happy with mine, it's bronze but means gold"

—July 1, 2005, Brazilian beach volleyball player Emanuel Rego

Emanuel Rego

Emanuel Fernando Sheffer Rego is a beach volleyball player from Brazil, who competed in three consecutive Summer Olympics, starting in 1996. He won the gold medal in the men's beach team competition at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, partnering Ricardo Santos...

, who won the gold medal at the 2004 Olympic Games, gave his gold medal to Vanderlei de Lima

Vanderlei de Lima

Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima is a former long-distance runner who specialised in marathons. He received international renown after a spectator, a laicized Irish priest, attacked him at the 2004 Summer Olympics marathon while he was leading the race at 35 km...

on television. Deeply touched, Vanderlei returned it.