His name was Robert Chef d'Hôtel...

[79]

Within three days he would have been 101.
He belonged to the French 4×400m team that won an olympic silver medal.
The gold medallists ran 4"4 faster than the French relay then, which is the widest margin between any gold and silver medal through the 4×400m olympic history.
When was it?

[dj]

1948

[DoubleRBar]

The French team ran second because Arthur Wint (Jamaica) pulled a muscle on Jamaica's third leg and did not finish the race.

[79]

Very good answer, dj 🙂💯🥇
Indeed, DoubleRBar, the Jamaican team lost a medal (probably a gold one) because of this very unlucky fact.

[79]

Another (non T&F) statistic: the average age of the French squad was 90 years after they all passed away, which is quite impressive!