Letter to the Editor-Henri Dauban competed but did not win Olympic medal |16 May 2012

This is because one of the speakers said that he won a bronze medal and left it with him before he died.

According to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) website, competing for Great Britain as Henri Dauban de Silhouette, he registered a distance of 44.70 metres in the javelin throw to finish 13th in his heat. This allowed him to finish 27th overall in the final standings out of 29 competitors.

The gold medal for the event was won by Jonni Myyra of Finland with Gunnar Lindstrom of Sweden taking the silver and Eugene Oberst of United States the bronze.

If the late Mr Dauban really gave the speaker an Olympic medal, this must have been his participation medal. From the beginning of the Olympics Games to date, all athletes, officials, dignitaries and even journalists who register for the Games, are given a souvenir medal each. Mr Dauban must have also received such a medal.

I wish to point this out not to discredit the good things Mr Dauban has done for Silhouette and for Seychelles. According to all accounts Mr Dauban was an exemplary man, but we should not get carried away and say things that never happened.

To date a Seychellois has yet to win an Olympic medal. Winning the country’s first Olympic medal remains the challenge for all athletes.

Thank you for publishing this clarification.

James Jacques