Lost Olympic Bronze Found: How a Century-Old Mistake Was Fixed

Two descendants refused to let history fade. Their relentless search rewrote Olympic records—and gave forgotten gymnasts their long-overdue recognition.

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2025 December 8 . 10:18 PM

1 min read

In this picture we can see a stadium, there are some people sitting on chairs, in the background... — In this picture we can see a stadium, there are some people sitting on chairs, in the background there are people standing, we can see hoardings at the top of the picture, there are stairs in the middle, we can see a person is performing gymnastics in the middle.

Lost Olympic Bronze Found: How a Century-Old Mistake Was Fixed

The story began in the early 2000s when Patrick Boquet-Boitelle started looking into his grandfather’s role in the 1920 Olympics. By 2016, he had teamed up with Olympic historian Jean-Pierre Guilbert. Their research took a major step forward in 2023 when Vincent Bouchés joined the effort.

The IOC’s records now reflect the correct names of the French gymnasts who earned bronze in the 1920 Olympics. The work of Boquet-Boitelle, Bouchés, and Guilbert ensured that Émile Boitelle and his teammates finally received their rightful place in Olympic history. Their research also removed athletes who had been mistakenly included for over a hundred years.