The Loiret’s place in the history of the Olympic Games is not as discreet as one might imagine. The proof with the Archives dans la course exhibition! It is open to the public, at the Departmental Archives, in Orléans, until August 30.
Did you know? The great Jacques Anquetil won three Tours de France riding a Helyett bicycle, a trademark registered on September 4, 1919 with the Gien Commercial Court, by the Picard brothers of Sully-sur-Loire. Bicycles recognizable by their emblem under the handlebars: a bust of a woman wearing an elegant hat tied with a wide ribbon around her neck and head. In reference to an operetta from 1890 featuring an American in Paris, Miss Helyett.
Instead, Hungary
One of the wives of the Picard brothers being a die-hard fan of this operetta, she was able to be sufficiently insistent for the cycles to take this name. This company, which ceased its activity in 1962 in the face of the rise of mopeds and automobiles, also has to do with the Olympic Games. On a poster, we can read “Helyett the great brand for young people: Olympic Champion 1948-1952”.
Among the documents on display is this programme from the 1924 Olympic Games in Paris.
A poster that can be seen in one of the different spaces of the exhibition entitled Archives dans la course! (sport and Olympics in the Loiret) and installed in the ad hoc, air-conditioned room of the Culture pavilion of the departmental archives, boulevard Marie-Stuart in Orléans.
This exhibition, open since May 21 and which will be open until August 31, also evokes the Hungaria company, a trademark registered on June 20, 1931 in Orléans, which manufactured footballs and football boots. In 1950, she moved to Saint-Jean-de-la-Ruelle. More than half of French production then leaves these workshops. In 1976, the brand was bought by Adidas.
Loiret, best department at the 2000 Olympics
Furthermore, it is recalled that the Olympic flame, which will pass through Loiret on July 10, already made a stop at Orléans Cathedral on December 16, 1991, before the Winter Olympics in Albertville in 1992. And that among the torchbearers on July 10 is Maurice Chatelet, a centenarian from Orléans, in good shape and good health.
The Olympic flame already passed through Loiret, at Orléans Cathedral, on December 16, 1991.
There is also talk of the Olympic medalists from Loiret. There are fourteen of them. And it was a woman who opened the show. In this case, swimmer Catherine Poirot from the CJF in Fleury-les-Aubrais who won the bronze medal in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
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Bearers, activities, routes through the towns: we know more about the passage of the Olympic flame in Loiret
At the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Loiret was even the best French department with six medals, including three gold, thanks to Stéphane Traineau and Céline Lebrun (judo), Eric Poujade (pommel horse) and Florian Rousseau (track cycling). Without the Paralympic champions from Loiret who have won 14 medals since 1992. Among them Frédéric Delpy and Sandrine Martinet.
In addition to the documents found in the heart of the Loiret archives, and those donated by clubs such as Etoile Saint-Marc d’Orléans and US Pithiviers rugby, panels from the national sports museum provide a more general overview of the Olympic Games.
Practical. Open until Friday, August 30, 29, boulevard Marie-Stuart, in Orléans. Free admission. Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Flash tours on Thursdays, July 4 and August 1, at 4 p.m. Duration: 45 minutes. Register on [email protected]
Alexis Marie
