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Michel Theato

The Olympic Games, or Olympics, are an international multi-sport event taking place every four years which comprise of summer and winter games. Though the first ancient games were held in 776 B.C, the modern games started from 1896. The unity of the 5 continents is shown on the Olympic flag by five colorful intertwined rings of red, blue, green, yellow, and black, created by Baron Pierre de Coubertin to represent at least one color of the participating country’s national flag.

Michel Johann Theato was born on March 22, 1878 and was a Luxembourgian athlete and the winner of the marathon at the 1900 Olympics in Paris and won a gold medal for his country. Little is known about Theato, who worked as a baker's delivery boy in Paris. He won the race, then measured at 40,260 meters and held under very hot circumstances, in just under three hours. However, his victory was not undisputed, as several runners, notably American Arthur Newton, claimed that Theato had taken shortcuts, helped by his knowledge of the Parisian streets through his occupation.

For a long while, it was assumed that Theato was French, and only in the late 20th century it was discovered that he was really from Luxembourg, making him the first Olympic medallist from this country. With all his dedication and devotion in his play he achieved many goals in his overall athletic career. He had the ability of defeating the opponent easily by just giving some extra hard work and efforts. He never lost hope in himself and always fought hard to achieve his goal.

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