Gustav Felix Flatow was a professional gymnast. In 1896, he competed in the first modern Olympic Games, which took place in Athens. Though he did not win any prizes for individual events, he won gold medals for the horizontal bar and parallel bar events as a member of the German team. At the Olympics in Paris in 1900, Gustav Flatow did not win any medals.
With Baron De Coubertin, Gustav Flatow laid the foundation for the modern Olympic Games. After retiring as a gymnast, Gustav Flatow devoted himself to his textile business. After the Nazis came into power, he fled to the Netherlands, taking up residence on the Statensingel in Rotterdam. During the war, he went into hiding with his family in a hotel in Driebergen, but on 31 December 1943 he was arrested. His wife and child survived the war.
In 1997 Reichssportfeldstraße, a street near the Olympic stadium in Berlin, was renamed Flatowallee. In Kreuzberg, a district in Berlin, there is also a Flatow-Sporthalle, a sports centre with a plaque commemorating Gustav Flatow and his cousin, who was also a gymnast. In 1996, Deutsche Post issued a series of stamps to mark the centenary of the modern Olympics. Gustav Flatow and his cousin are depicted on one of the four stamps.
Addition of a visitor of the website
A photograph of Gustav Felix Flatow can be found at this webpage.