The Pierre de Coubertin Medal is a special decoration awarded by the International Olympic Committee that "pays tribute to institutions with a pedagogical and educational role and to people who, through their research and the creation of intellectual works in the spirit of Pierre de Coubertin, contribute to the promotion of Olympism." It was designed by André Ricard Sala, with one face featuring a portrait of Coubertin and the other showing the Olympic motto and rings.

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 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 , the Minister of Education , the ÖOC President , and the ÖOC Hon. Secretary-General . Later recipients include , Pat Hickey, and Dieter Kalt Sr.

Recipients Recipient Country Accomplishment(s) Date Place Seventh President of the International Olympic Committee 6 September 1997 Lausanne, Switzerland Leon Štukelj — Maribor, Slovenia Raymond Gafner — 1999 — Rainier III, Prince of Monaco — 2000 — João Havelange — 2000 — Gianni Agnelli — 2000 — — 2000 — Kurt Furgler — 2000 — Henry Kissinger — 2000 — Yoshiaki Tsutsumi — 2000 — Emil Zátopek 1952 Summer Olympics 6 December 2000 Prague, Kéba Mbaye — 2001 — Rudolf Leising — 2001 — Sports journalist, "for his many contributions to the International Olympic Committee and to the Olympic Family" Spencer Eccles 2002 Winter Olympics February 2002 Salt Lake City, Frieder Roskam German architect, "for his groundbreaking work in sports facility construction" 30 April 2002 Cologne, Germany — 2002 — — 2002 — Hilda Múdra — 2002 — Cecilia Tait First Peruvian recipient, "in recognition of her contribution to the promotion of women in sport" 21 March 2003 Lausanne, Switzerland — 2003 — Marino Ercolani Casadei — 2003 — Julio Ernesto Cassanello President of the Argentine Olympic Committee 2005–09 2003 — Vanderlei de Lima In recognition of his exceptional demonstration of fair play and Olympic values during the 2004 Summer Olympics 29 August 2004 Athens, Greece Elena Belova Presented at the 2007 XI International Scientific Congress 17 May 2007Elena Belova Awarded Pierre de Coubertin Medal. National Olympic Committee of Belarus. Minsk, Belarus Shaul Ladany For "unusual outstanding sports achievements during a span covering over four decades" 17 May 2007 Minsk, Belarus Viktor Khotochkin First Vice-President, the Russian Olympic Committee (2002–2009), "for his outstanding contribution to the development of the International Olympic Movement" 2007 — Viktor Mamatov — 2008 — For services rendered to the International Olympic Committee and the Olympic cause December 2008 Lausanne, Switzerland Ronald Harvey Former CEO of the Australian Sports Commission and Director of the Australian Institute of Sport, first Australian recipient 2 April 2009 Australia Emanuel Bosák — May 2009 Jičín, Czech Republic 2003–2012, "to thank Qingdao City for its efforts in the Olympic Movement" 22 July 2009 Qingdao, China Boyan Radev — 15 September 2009 — Gagik Tsarukyan President of the Armenian Olympic Committee, "for his invaluable contribution to the development of sport in Armenia" 13 November 2010 Yerevan, Armenia Eric Monnin Olympic education specialist August 2012 (awarded) — Bob Nadin Veteran ice hockey referee and referee supervisor, medal presented at the 2013 IIHF World Championship May 2013 Stockholm, Sweden Richard Garneau French Canadian sports broadcaster, "for his lifetime dedication to Olympism" 6 February 2014 Sochi, Russia Hermann Andrecs Co-founder and former president of the Austrian Olympic Academy, "for services to the Olympic Movement" 10 September 2014 Vienna, Austria Michael Hwang "Exceptional services to the Olympic Movement" 13 October 2014 Singapore Geraint John First British recipient for "many years of outstanding service to the Olympic Movement while bringing a wealth of experience and expertise to Olympic design" 28 November 2014 London, England Petros Synadinos Member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and President of the Hellenic Archery Federation, "for his multi-year and multifaceted contribution to the Olympics and sports" 2016 Athens, Greece Eduard von Falz-Fein "Long service to the Olympic Movement" 17 February 2017 Vaduz, Liechtenstein Lü Junjie First Zisha artist to be awarded, for "his work using Zisha to spread the Olympic spirit" 15 January 2018 Lausanne, Switzerland Han Meilin Designer of the Fuwa, mascots of the 2008 Summer Olympics 24 April 2018 Lausanne, Switzerland Diego Pulido Aragón Guatemalan banker and funder "for believing that through sports, culture and education, we can build a better future for our country" 28 August 2018 Guatemala City, Guatemala Aldons Vrubļevskis Former President of the Latvian NOC 28 November 2020 Sigulda, Latvia At the 70th anniversary of the 5 November 2021 Lausanne, Switzerland Cui Jingzhe Chinese artist, for "[his] efforts in spreading the Olympic spirit through art" 11 January 2022 Beijing, China George Hirthler Author of The Idealist about Pierre de Coubertin 23 June 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland German-born contemporary artist for "[his] inspiring positive expression of channelling the vision of Coubertin through [his] extraordinary art" 23 June 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland Kim Min-jae Korean sports photographer, first Korean recipient May 2018 (awarded) Seoul, South Korea Michael Robert Payne Author of the 2021 IOC book Toon In! 1 December 2022 Lausanne, Switzerland Elguja Berishvili First Vice President of the Georgian National Olympic Committee, "for his contribution to the Olympic movement". First Georgian recipient. April 2023 (awarded) Paris, France Author of Coubertin autographe – Tome I (1889–1915) about Pierre de Coubertin 23 June 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland Ed Hula Editor and Founder of Around the Rings 23 June 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland David Miller Journalist and Olympic historian, author of Igniting the Games: The Evolution of the Olympics and Thomas Bach's Legacy (2022) November 2023 London, England Telmo Guerra Portuguese artist, first Portuguese recipient 21 June 2024 Lausanne, Switzerland

See also Olympic Cup Olympic diploma Olympic Diploma of Merit Olympic Laurel Olympic medal Olympic Order

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