Michel Dumas, the French international who finished fourth in the M4+ at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics before serving Club Nautique de Libourne 1876 for decades, has died aged 81.
“My father had told me about him and he was even prouder than I was”
Michel Dumas
Dumas died on 10 July in Libourne. Fédération Française d’Aviron announced his death on Monday, describing the former international as an emblematic figure whose work as a volunteer and club leader helped establish Libourne among the strongest French clubs of its period.
Club Nautique de Libourne published its own tribute on 13 July, saluting Dumas as “a great rower of the club and of French rowing”.
Fourth in Tokyo
Born on 19 October 1944, Dumas reached his only Olympic Games shortly before his 20th birthday. He raced in the French coxed four alongside Yves Fraisse, Claude Pache and Gérard Jacquesson, with Jean Claude Darouy steering the crew.
The French crew were Olympic finalists in 1964. They were beaten by the Soviet Union in their first race but placed ahead of them in the final. They qualified for the A-final by winning their second race, beating New Zealand, Australia, and Japan. France finished fourth in the Tokyo final in 7:13.92: Germany won gold, Italy silver, and the Netherlands took bronze. The fourth-place finish came during an era when the coxed four remained a central part of the international programme.
Dumas returned to the French team for the 1965 European Championships and also won several national titles in the coxed eight. His contribution to the sport continued long after his international racing career.
The Rowers Who Carried Jean Moulin
Six weeks after the Tokyo Games, Dumas took part in a major French state ceremony. On 19 December 1964, he was among six rowers from the Bataillon de Joinville selected to carry the coffin containing the presumed ashes of Resistance leader Jean Moulin into the Panthéon.
The group, all elite athletes completing military service, practised marching and climbing steps while carrying a dismantled door in place of the coffin. Dumas, listed at 1.88 metres, was selected alongside Claude Hucher, André Sloth, Gérard Bredel, Jean-Pierre Grimaud and Gérard Baril.
Video Transfer of Jean Moulin’s ashes to the Pantheon | INA Archive
Wearing white gloves, the six carried the coffin into the Panthéon after André Malraux’s funeral oration, with President Charles de Gaulle and Prime Minister Georges Pompidou attending. Dumas later remembered both the weight of the coffin and the responsibility of the assignment.
“My father had told me about him and he was even prouder than I was,” Dumas said in a 2023 account published by L’Équipe. “I can still hear him saying to me: ‘Do you realise, Mimi, you are going to carry Jean Moulin’s ashes!’ It was a great moment in my life.”
Looking back almost six decades later, he said: “I am grateful to have been chosen; it marked me enormously, and I will remember it all my life.”
A Life at Libourne
After leaving international competition, Dumas devoted many years to rowing in the Libourne region. He worked as a volunteer and leader at Club Nautique de Libourne 1876, contributing to the development of a club that became one of France’s leading performers during its strongest period.
Dumas also built a career in decoration and interior design, becoming a well-known entrepreneur in Libourne.
His funeral was held at the Montussan crematorium on 16 July. FF Aviron offered its condolences to his family, friends and the members of Club Nautique de Libourne 1876.
