Talk:Unknown French boy

Did you know nomination

The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was: promoted by History6042 talk 11:12, 12 June 2025 (UTC)

( Comment or view )

( Article history links:

• Unknown French boy
• George Nikoladze

)

• ... that a mysterious French Olympian may have actually been a renowned Georgian mathematician?

• Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/maybe-eight-possibly-frenchthe-search-for-the-youngest-ever-olympian-1470758952

• ALT1: ... that a mysterious French Olympian is speculated to have actually been a renowned Georgian mathematician?

• Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/maybe-eight-possibly-frenchthe-search-for-the-youngest-ever-olympian-1470758952

• • Reviewed: Template:Did you know nominations/Korean science fiction
  • Comment: Howardcorn33's QPQ is Template:Did you know nominations/Charlotte and Her Boyfriend

Created by ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) and Howardcorn33 (talk). Number of QPQs required: 2. Nominator has 9 past nominations.

ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 21:46, 8 June 2025 (UTC).

• Review: 1) Article fulfills all criteria except neutrality and presentation. From what I get, the hypothesis was sourced to historian Paata Natsvlishvili, which appears to be supported by anecdotal evidence from Nikoladze’s sister. However, since some historians from the International Society of Olympic Historians remain skeptical, the fact itself is highly controversial. I might reckon a less speculative presentation of the fact by alter the hook entirely, probably focusing on the evidence, or splitting the nomination into a separate nomination for each article. Also 2) since you nominate two articles, you need a pair of QPQs for each. Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 01:06, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

@Jeromi Mikhael: I have added an alt hook that clarifies that the hypothesis is mostly speculative. Additionally, it's my understanding that the requirement for two QPQs applies to those with ten or more prior nominations, so Howardcorn33 and I only need 1 each. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 01:40, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

@Jeromi Mikhael: I have performed an additional review at Template:Did you know nominations/Black dandyism. ―Howard • 🌽³³ 13:16, 9 June 2025 (UTC)

@Howardcorn33: I approve ALT1. DYK is good to go. Regards, Jeromi Mikhael 00:27, 11 June 2025 (UTC)

"Mixed team" or Dutch?

@ArtemisiaGentileschiFan, at Mixed team at the 1900 Summer Olympics this team is listed under "Medals, that IOC until 2024 attributed to mixed teams". I'm not very familiar with Olympic history, but would it make sense to add "Dutch" to the lead, perhaps before "mixed team"? It was a little confusing for me as a reader to see no nationality in the lead, but then see Dutch in the body. Toadspike [Talk] 19:48, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

Yes, I think it would make sense to also list them as Dutch since they were originally Dutch before taking on the kid. Good catch. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 23:54, 13 June 2025 (UTC)

The IOC now credits the win to the Netherlands because the boat was entered by the Minerva Club of Amsterdam.Topcardi (talk) 11:58, 20 June 2025 (UTC)

Vague title

Interesting article, but isnt 'Unknown French boy' a bit too vague of a title? Would 'Unknown French boy at the 1900 Summer Olympics' be a bit better? Ridiculopathy (talk) 07:25, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

"Unknown French boy" is the most common name he's given in sources, and I don't think there are any other notable unknown French boys that would cause confusion. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 16:11, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

"gold medal"

The article as written makes frequent reference to medals. Medals were not awarded in rowing at the 1900 Olympics (then called the International Championships), and what medals were awarded that year (in other sports) did not include gold. Only later did the gold-silver-bronze system become established, and eventually, the designation was made retroactive, but actual medals were lacking. The text has been edited to reflect these facts, but one imagines future editing will tend to reinstate the error. JingleJim (talk) 10:26, 19 June 2025 (UTC)

References

Alternative theories

1 Rene Depaille (as per Stan Greenberg's Olympic Almanac 2008 (although nobody is sure where the name comes from)
2 https://olympstats.com/2014/08/12/did-an-eight-year-old-compete-and-win-a-medal-at-the-olympics/
3 A member of the Basse — Seine Rowing Club https://www.desportwereld.nl/wp-content/uploads/Bijkerk-Francois-Brandt-DeSportwereld-69-2.pdf

GA review

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Unknown French boy/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Nominator: ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk · contribs) 16:01, 2 March 2026 (UTC)

Reviewer: Arconning (talk · contribs) 10:10, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

Shall review! Arconning (talk) 10:10, 6 March 2026 (UTC)

@ArtemisiaGentileschiFan Here'll be my comments. :) Arconning (talk) 03:11, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

Prose and MoS

Lead and infobox

• "as the coxswain", could be worded better as "as the replacement coxswain" as it may connote that they have chosen the unknown French boy as the original coxswain.

1900 Summer Olympics

• "The Dutch coxed pair rowing team initially participated with an adult coxswain named Hermanus Brockmann, but realized that having three adults in the boat made it too heavy.", based on reading I believe it was the heats? Specify.
• "The boy was so light that they had to add a weight to the boat for it to maintain balance.", could this be reworded for conciseness? Whereas the boat is the main talking point, possibly omitting the mention of the rowers adding the weight themselves.
• "researchers such as Ton Bijkerk", based on the article supplied it's "Tony Bijkerk" though I see other sources using "Ton". Up to you if you want to make the change. + mention of "Dutch historian Ton Bijkerk" should be moved here

Identity

• "a memorial photo book that belonged to François Brandt.", shouldn't it just be "Brandt" as he was mentioned previously? Same with mentions of Bijkerk and Klein.
• "In the Olympic archives of Lausanne", specifically the "IOC Historical Archives" at the Olympic Studies Centre
• "Hilary Evans speculated", "Evans speculated"

Media

• The image used within the infobox is in the public domain and has proper captioning. All good here.

References

• Earwig seems to check out. All good here.
• Reference checks: 3, 5, 7, 8. All good here.

Miscellaneous

• No ongoing edit war, broad enough information regarding the topic, neutral.

@Arconning: Hi, thanks so much for the review! I believe I have addressed the issues you've brought up. If there are any other issues, let me know! Thanks again. ArtemisiaGentileschiFan (talk) 14:07, 9 March 2026 (UTC)

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.