Pierre de Coubertin Medal

The medal is not the same award as the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy, which was inaugurated in 1965 and is awarded by the International Fair Play Committee, although the two are often confused. For example, some news media reported on 22 August 2016 that Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino had received the medal after colliding with each other on the track during the 5000 m event and assisting each other to continue the race. The New Zealand Olympic Committee said that no such award had yet been made, and The Guardian later corrected their report confirming "the award was the International Fair Play Committee Award rather than the Pierre de Coubertin award". It is also regularly mentioned that the first winner of the Pierre de Coubertin Medal was the Italian bobsledder Eugenio Monti in 1964, although in fact he became the first winner of the Pierre de Coubertin World Trophy. Lawrence Lemieux didn't receive the medal either.

A medal awarded since 1969 "for outstanding merits in the Olympic Movement" by the Austrian Olympic Committee (ÖOC) called the Pierre de Coubertin-Medaille, 'Pierre de Coubertin Medal' has given rise to further confusion. The first recipients at a ceremony held on 23 June 1969 at the Museum of the 20th Century in Vienna were Austrian President Franz Jonas, IOC President Avery Brundage, IOC member Manfred Mautner Markhof, the Minister of Education Theodor Piffl-Perčević, the ÖOC President Heinrich Drimmel, and the ÖOC Hon. Secretary-General Edgar Fried. Later recipients include Rudolf Sallinger, Pat Hickey, and Dieter Kalt Sr.

Recipients