The story is not trivial. It also does not lack a certain irony. At a time when Russia is threatened with exclusion from the Olympic movement for a 4-year purgatory, one of its most influential sports leaders, and undoubtedly the wealthiest, has just written a page of the history of the Olympics.
Alisher Usmanov, 66, one of the richest men in Russia (his fortune was estimated in 2015 at $14,4 billion), president of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) since 2018, donated to the Lausanne Olympic Museum of a relic more than a century old, handwritten by Pierre de Coubertin himself: the original Olympic manifesto of 1892, where the French baron advocated the return of the Olympic Games.
The ceremony to hand over the precious document took place on Monday February 10 in Lausanne. Alisher Usmanov entrusted it with careful gestures to Thomas Bach. Who did not hesitate to describe the moment as historic.
A little flashback. Last December, the original Olympic manifesto featured prominently on the agenda of an auction organized by Sotheby’s in New York. According to expert estimates, the document could reach $1 million, or even a little more. But the bids soar quickly. Three international buyers are fighting over the manifest. The battle lasts 12 minutes.
In the end, the 14-page manifesto found a buyer for the record sum of $8,8 million. It becomes the most expensive sports collectible in history. He consigns to oblivion a New York Yankees baseball jersey worn by Babe Ruth, purchased last year for $5,64 million.
At the time, the news caused a sensation. Above all, it intrigues. Who could be the mysterious buyer, ready to pay more than 8 million dollars for a bundle of 14 sheets of vellum paper, written in French in sepia ink, on the back of blank registration forms for the International Congress on physical education of 1889?
A few names are circulating. Qatar is cited. So does the IOC. Alisher Usmanov remains silent.
Obviously, the Russian billionaire has judged that the time for secrecy has passed. On Monday, he traveled to Lausanne to deliver the manifesto to the IOC himself.
« Today we are witnessing history, suggested Thomas Bach, receiving the precious document with a very solemn air. We are witnesses to this historic document, the manuscript of the speech which laid the philosophical foundations of the Olympic movement. We are witnessing a historic moment with the return of this manuscript to its Olympic home, the place where it belongs. »
More sober in his remarks, Alisher Usmanov was very pragmatic. “ I think the Olympic Museum is the most appropriate place to keep this priceless manuscript. confided the Russian leader. Not false.
According to the IOC, several original pages of the manifesto, on which enigmatic revisions appear, will be exhibited very soon at the Olympic Museum. The complete document will then join the permanent exhibition.
Wise comment from Professor Stephan Wassong, member of the German Sport University in Cologne and president of the Pierre de Coubertin International Committee: “ It is appropriate to pay tribute to the donor of this precious manuscript to the Olympic Museum, a place of exchange, reflection and understanding of the Olympic movement. Such a philanthropic gesture is rare these days. »
History will perhaps remember that this “ philanthropic gesture » of a Russian billionaire and sports executive intervened at a time when Russia was being unceremoniously pushed off the Olympic field.
