(Roger Lebranchu, pictured at the United States Press Agency)

Oldest Olympians is saddened to learn that French rower Roger Lebranchu, born July 22, 1922, died today, January 10, at the age of 102. Lebranchu represented his country in the coxed eights at the 1948 London Games, where the French team finished last in its heats and did not take part in the repêchage. A former prisoner in the Buchenwald and Auschwitz Concentration Camps, he spent two years undertaking harsh physical labour before fleeing during an evacuation near the end of conflict. In 2024, he helped carry the Olympic torch for the Paris Olympics.

At the time of his death, Lebranchu was the oldest living Olympic rower. That distinction now goes to German Günther Twiesselmann, born August 15, 1925. Twiesselmann represented his country in the coxed fours event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics, where a unified Germany was eliminated in the round one repêchage. He won national titles in that event from 1949 through 1952, as well as a coxless fours title in 1951. By career, he was a mechanic.