The Olympic Diploma of Merit 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.
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). 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 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.
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). 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)).
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.
List of recipients A listing of all 57 recipients:
No. Recipient Country 1 President Theodore Roosevelt United States 2 Fridjhof Nansen Norway 3 Santos Dumont Brazil 4 Lord Desborough United Kingdom 5 The Duke of the Abruzzis Italy 6 Commandant Lancrenon France 7 Count Zeppelin Germany 8 Colonel Balck Sweden 9 Dr. Jean Charcot France 10 George Chavez Peru 11 H. M. King Alphonso XIII Spain 12 H. H. Crown Prince of Germany Germany 13 Alain Gerbault France 14 Colonel Charles Lindbergh United States 15 Captain Harry Pidgeon United States 16 Mr Hostin France 17 Leni Riefenstahl Germany 18 Greece 19 Dr. Paul Martin Switzerland 20 Jack Beresford United Kingdom 21 Dr. Ivan Osiier Denmark 22 Guatemalan Olympic Committee Guatemala 23 France 24 Dr. Switzerland 25 Bill Henry United States 26 Harry Neville Amos New Zealand 27 Alfréd Hajós Hungary 28 Jeanette Altwegg United Kingdom 29 Charles Denis France 30 Colonel Marco Perez Jimenez Venezuela 31 Dr. Carl Diem Germany 32 Antoine Hafner Switzerland 33 The Rt. Hon. R. G. Menzies Australia 34 Otto Mayer, Chancellor of the IOC Switzerland 35 Maurice Genevoix France 36 USSR 37 H. R. H. Prince Axel Denmark 38 Victor Boin Belgium 39 Germany 40 Kenzo Tange Japan 41 Burhan Felek Turkey 42 Joseph Barthel Luxembourg 43 Joseph A. Gruss Czechoslovakia 44 Spain 45 Kon Ichikawa Japan 46 Sir Herbert McDonald Jamaica 47 Vernon Morgan United Kingdom 48 Francisco José Nobre Guedes Portugal 49 France 50 France 51 Spain 52 Frederick Ruegsegger United States 53 Greece 54 Otl Aicher Germany 55 Sir Stanley Rous United Kingdom 56 The Rt. Hon. Lord Philip Noel-Baker United Kingdom 57 Jean Borotra France
See also Olympic Cup Olympic diploma Olympic Laurel Olympic medal Olympic Order Pierre de Coubertin Medal
References
Further reading IA Olympic Diploma of Merit, olympedia.org