Today on Oldest Olympians we wanted to cover a topic that we have hit upon eclectically, but never really devoted our full attention to: missing information on Lebanese Olympians. There are a lot of gaps in our data, but today we wanted to focus on four individuals who competed between 1948 and 1964 and may still be living, although we do not know enough about them to be sure either way.
Salem Salam – Member of Lebanon’s sport shooting delegation to the 1948 London Olympics
We know very little about Salem Salam, who represented Lebanon in the small-bore rifle, prone, 50 metres competition at the 1948 London Games. His result of 70th, among 71 competitors, is essentially the sum of this knowledge; even the picture we have seen of the 1948 Lebanese team cuts off some of the names (including his) leaving us unable to identify exactly who he is in the photograph. While sport shooters tend to be older than the average Olympian, it is certainly in the realm of possibility that he may still be alive.
(Michel Ghawi, pictured at Abdo Gedeon)
Michel Ghawi – Sole boxer in Lebanon’s delegation to the 1948 London Olympics
Michel Ghawi took up boxing at 15 years old and won the Lebanese national bantamweight title in 1947. At the 1948 London Games, however, he represented his country as a flyweight, where he lost in round one to Chile’s Manuel Videla. We know that he founded a club in 1944, so the absolute latest he could be born is roughly 1929. He was, however, likely much older by then, although it remains a possibility that he is still living.
Sami Beyroun – Member of Lebanon’s alpine skiing delegation to the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics
Of all the Olympians on this list, we know the least about Sami Beyroun. Even his name is uncertain, as one Arabic-language site lists him as “Samir Bayrouni”. All we can be certain of is that someone with this name or similar competed in three alpine skiing events at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, placing 80th and last among the finishers in the giant slalom and also competing in the slalom and downhill. Without any further information, we are limited in our ability to research his later life.
(Michel Rahme, pictured at Abdo Gedeon)
Michel Rahme – Member of Lebanon’s alpine skiing delegation to the 1964 Innsbruck Olympics
Like Sami Beyroun, Michel Rahme represented Lebanon in all three events at the 1964 Innsbruck Games, placing 75th in the both the downhill and giant slalom and 53rd in the slalom. While this was his only major competitive tournament, he spent many years with the Lebanese national team as an administrator. We have, however, unfortunately been unable to find more details about his more recent life, or if he is even still alive.
Finally, while on the subject of Lebanon, we wanted to publicly thank Zakaria Chihab’s son Bassam for confirm that his father, at 1952 Olympic bronze medalist and subject of an Olympic Mysteries post from last year, died in November 1984. We are not sure just yet what topic we will cover next, but we hope that you will join us!