A silver medal credited to Great Britain at the 1900 Olympics has been reassigned to France after new information came to light about the cyclist who won it.

British citizen Lloyd Hildebrand finished second in the men’s 25km cycling race in Paris 124 years ago.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said new research concluded Hildebrand “was born and brought up in France, and competed for a French club before and after Paris 1900”.

The IOC’s executive board agreed to the switch on Thursday.

It said: “Based on this new-found information, the executive board decided to apply the same policy as in previous cases.”

Unlike today, National Olympic Committees (NOCs) were not involved in the process of selecting athletes for the 1900 Games.

Athletes instead paid an entry fee and sent over a licence number established by the national federation where they were regularly competing.

A Team GB spokesperson said: “We were aware of the change of status for the medal, and have ourselves benefited in such circumstances before.

“We shall try to win one back later this summer!”