Competing for Vélo Club de Levallois prior to the 1948 Olympics, Charles Coste won the 1947 French amateur championship in the individual pursuit, which was not then an Olympic event. At the 1948 World Championships, shortly after the Olympics, he placed third in the individual pursuit, and then turned professional at the end of the year. Coste had a solid professional career, competing through 1959, with his biggest win coming early, in 1949 when he won the Grand Prix des Nations time trial championship. He also won the 1953 Paris-Limoges race and the 1954 Ronde de Monaco. He was second at the 1949 Grand Prix de Suisse and placed second at the 1953 Paris-Camembert race. His best finish in a major race was fourth at Paris-Roubaix in 1950. He rode the Giro d’Italia three times with a best finish of 40th in 1956. Coste competed in the Tour de France in 1952 and 1957 but did not finish either race.
In April 2022 Coste was awarded the Legion d’Honneur by France. Normally, this has been given to all French Olympic Champions but that was not instituted until 1952, four years after his gold medal. However, this oversight was corrected when Tony Estanguet presented him the award, which he dedicated to his teammates in the team pursuit - Pierre Adam, Serge Blusson, and Fernand Decanali.
France